Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Henare Tau: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 12 September 2012. Volume:683;Page:5131. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
5. 
Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development 
: How will the Government’s investment approach refocus New Zealand’s welfare system? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development) 
: 
 Mr Speaker—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I want to hear the answer. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Today we have announced further detail on the Government’s investment approach to welfare. Our reforms will fundamentally change the way welfare is delivered. We are applying an investment approach to understand where best to target support looking at each individual on a benefit given their needs challenges and prospects of a quick return to work. To do this we tasked experts to undertake an actuarial valuation of the welfare system which shows us the different types of benefits and the effect of policy changes on individuals within the benefit system. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: What does the valuation show about the costs of different types of benefits? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: The valuation shows that the lifetime cost of New Zealand’s current benefit population is $78 billion. This reinforces exactly why we have got to invest in people through a work focus system—so that they do not get caught in the trap of long-term welfare dependency. The valuation tells us that those on unemployment benefits represent just 5 percent of the lifetime cost of welfare— 
Andrew Little 
: What a waste of money! 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: —the angrier you get the less likely you are to win the argument but that is fine—yet currently they receive the lion’s share of support to get them off welfare and into work compared with sole parents at 23 percent those on sickness benefits at 9 percent and those on invalids benefits at 24 percent. 
Sue Moroney 
: Trying to look busy. Doing nothing about jobs trying to look busy. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Opposition members call out but actually although the unemployment benefit did drop under them we saw the sickness benefit increasing we saw the invalids benefit increasing and actually they should be ashamed of what they did for those people in that time. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: How does the valuation support the Government’s changes to the welfare system to date? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Well the valuation confirms that our changes to date are focused on the right groups. The group with the highest individual lifetime cost on welfare is those who go on benefits before the age of 18. The valuation shows that just 4000 16 and 17-year-olds on benefits account for $1 billion of the lifetime cost. This underlines why the Government’s first stage of welfare reforms was rightly focused on ensuring young people do not become welfare dependent. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Has anything changed since the Ministry of Social Development in a similar exercise roughly 18 months ago told us that to save money we should invest in the young the unwell parents and those on benefits for longer periods; if not what has the Australian company Taylor Fry told her that she did not already know? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Actually the valuation has given us a lot of things that we did not know. It has taken at least 40 different models of analysing the system and has come up with a robust piece of data. It has taken more than 20 years of behaviours of beneficiaries to come up with something that will actually give more transparency or accountability actually to New Zealanders on what is working and what is not over a long period of time. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Can she confirm that in the next year superannuation will cost twice as much per annum as all main benefits combined; if so why will she not address the cost and sustainability of this scheme or is this about costing what is politically convenient? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: I presume that the member is taking that information in part from the actuarial that was done today that she is now dissing. The facts are that we need to do projections so that we can look at where the spend really is. I do not have a crystal ball to tell me exactly what is going to happen with benefits but with the right sorts of interventions we can bring them down and see better results for those people who need them.