Foss Craig: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Foss Craig: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:656;Page:5364] 
3.  
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What steps is the Government taking to tackle youth unemployment during the recession? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The Government has set out from the start of this year to take the sharp edges off the recession where it can and it has taken several steps to combat youth unemployment which is one of the sharp edges of recession. The package worth $152 million announced by the Prime Minister at the weekend will create about 17000 job opportunities for young people over the next couple of years across a range of activities. Education and training is a key part of our economic plan and the package will create 4000 new tertiary training places for 16 and 17-year-olds. In addition it includes 4000 job placements of 6 months for low-skilled young people in businesses and about 3000 jobs of up to 6 months in community programmes. 
Craig Foss 
: Why is the Government undertaking such a comprehensive package? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The number of young unemployed has climbed from 4000 last June to nearly 17000 this June. As the Government signalled from the start of the year and again in the Budget we believe it is important that young people do not become completely detached from the world of skills and work. We want to make sure we do not risk diminishing the potential of a generation of New Zealanders hit by a combination of the New Zealand recession that began at the beginning of last year and the global recession that hit about 9 months ago. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Will the funding for the $152 million package come from the $167 million that was slashed in the Budget from skills training the scholarship schemes that helped low-income young people into tertiary education and the Enterprising Communities fund; if so is the Government’s approach to unemployment less about sharp edges and more about cutting and pasting? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government has spent some time evaluating the effectiveness of spending decisions left over from the last Government which clearly made decisions when it thought that surpluses would go on for ever. Some of those decisions we have now reversed. In this case we are focusing strongly on keeping young people in contact with the workforce and skills. We believe that is the right response to the recession. 
Craig Foss 
: What is the intended result of this package? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: There are a number of intended results. One is simply to ensure that the young people who would be on the dole and losing a sense of discipline and losing their work habits are in some kind of constructive activity. In itself that will be of benefit. But in the longer term we think it is an opportunity for those young people to pick up skills and a work record so that as this economy recovers they will be able to get real sustainable jobs. Many of them are on the dole because they relied on jobs that were the product of 10 years of bad economic management with too much borrowing and Government spending. 
Rahui Katene 
: How does the focus on youth unemployment align with the focus on whanau ora? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The responsibilities for a young person who is unemployed can easily fall back on the whanau. In this case we want to contribute to supporting whanau by supporting their young people and also provide the opportunity for Maori iwi and other community groups to get together and provide opportunities for their young people. Of course that will also support the health of the family. 
Craig Foss 
: Has the Minister seen any reports on alternative approaches to unemployment? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I have heard some calls from the Opposition to “do something” but the ideas the Opposition comes up with seem to involve extending the welfare State not actually saving jobs or creating jobs.