Macindoe Tim: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Macindoe Tim: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17495] 
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
: 
 May I say how delighted I am to take a call immediately after the Minister for Social Development and Employment. I do want to— 
Chris Hipkins 
: Brown-noser. 
TIM MACINDOE 
: I will ignore that comment I say to Mr Hipkins. I acknowledge the fact that I doubt whether in Mr Hipkins’ lifetime any Minister has ever held this office in more difficult times. I acknowledge the huge compassion determination focus and commitment that she is bringing to the role. She has— 
Stuart Nash 
: Every Labour Government that takes over from a National Government holds it in more difficult times. 
TIM MACINDOE 
: Every National Government I say to Mr Nash takes over from a Labour Government that has mucked up the economy and then has to spend the next 5 to 10 years sorting it out. Never has that been truer than at this moment. When that happens it puts particular pressure on the Minister of Social Development and Employment. I return to my theme but I acknowledge the Minister for the huge job she is doing in incredibly difficult times. 
As a member of the Social Services Committee I am very proud to stand up and focus for a moment during this discussion on the financial reviews of this Government department. Some people listening to this debate may not appreciate that this department is the largest Government department in New Zealand. It has huge responsibilities which come under particular pressure at times of global economic crises of the type we are suffering at the moment. It is worth noting that its responsibilities include employment and income support services; New Zealand superannuation a huge area of Government expenditure and commitment; the provision of student loans and allowances; the care and protection of at-risk children and young people which the Minister just alluded to; youth justice; adoption services; New Zealand’s international welfare portability arrangements; the coordination of social support services; and the funding of community service providers. 
That is an overwhelming workload. There is plenty to talk about in this discussion. There is plenty of great work—it has to be said—that is being done right now in a host of challenging areas. That is why I have to say I was really disappointed to hear the deputy leader of the Labour Party in her reference to the comments that the Minister of Finance made after our election in 2008 when he made a comment about the uncertainty of the current economic outlook questioning our determination to make this an area of priority. I do not think that any impartial reasonable observer would say other than that we have made this an area of huge priority. There have been a number of really important initiatives led by this excellent Minister Paula Bennett and I think by a Government that is absolutely determined on trying to— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Name one. 
TIM MACINDOE 
: I am happy to name Job Ops. I am happy to name the Community Max scheme I say to Mr Jones— 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Labour policy. 
TIM MACINDOE 
: That is absolute nonsense and Mr Jones knows that they are not. There are a whole range of initiatives. I do not question for a moment the fact that these are always important areas for a Government but the really significant thing is that under this Minister and this Government they have been thrown so sharply into focus and have received such determined and coordinated—[ 
Interruption 
]—application and as the Minister Hekia Parata has kindly mentioned are showing that we have the real determination to make some difference to them. 
There is no question that we are living in incredibly difficult times. No one disputes the fact that unemployment has risen in recent times—of course it has in this country as it has around the world. What is really important is what we are doing about it. I am pleased to say that under the leadership of this Minister and under the leadership of the department that she is the head of we are seeing a really determined focus on reducing unemployment. Even though we are living through some of the most difficult times of all there is a clear focus on reducing unemployment and evidence that the policy is working. There is a clear focus on getting people off welfare dependency and there is very definite evidence that it is working. 
It is not because as the Labour Party would like to suggest we are either hard-hearted or insensitive to the needs of people—quite the opposite. It is because we are determined to help people out of the trap of welfare dependency. It is because on this side of the House we will never say: “That’s good enough for you.” We are always determined to say to the very hardest hit in an economic recession: “There is better hope. We are ambitious for you; you can be aspirational and we will put in place measures to assist you to get there.” I am pleased to say that there are a whole host of measures that are achieving just that. Unfortunately as we have seen—and I do want to acknowledge the huge suffering that Cantabrians have undergone—the Christchurch earthquake has further knocked us back in recent times. Mr Jones challenged me a minute ago to name some schemes and I mentioned Job Ops and Community Max. Let me also mention Future Focus. We have to focus particularly on those long-term recipients of unemployment benefits and say that we will get them off that scheme. 
Report noted.