Benson-Pope David: Social Security Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Benson-Pope David: Social Security Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10048] 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 I rise to respond immediately to the previous speaker. I would be very surprised if those people were not sanctioned. How that member would ever know what action Work and Income—by the way it is Work and Income; there is no such thing as that other acronym she was using and there has not been for some years—has taken is beyond me. But I can assure her that if she were to give me the details of the employer and the names of those concerned I would check that that was the case because there is no need to introduce sanctions in this bill around work testing. That exists right now and that does not change. 
What this bill does do though is to mandate the success that is already happening out there in our communities. It is the sort of success that has led to the extraordinary numbers that I have canvassed for the House previously such as the stunning reduction we have seen in unemployment benefits received in this country since National left the Treasury benches. Just to remind those people who did not hear the figures on unemployment at question time I say that in 1999 the number of unemployed in this country was 161000 and a bit. As of May this year that number is just over 24000. That is an extraordinary change. The most pleasing change of course as part of that—as members of the House know—is the huge reduction in youth unemployment from 17500 in 1999 when the National Party was last in Government to around 1200 now receiving benefits. It is always good to have the opportunity to compliment the professionalism and work of our front-line people in Work and Income—that is Work and Income not “WINZ” I say to Mrs Tolley—and I do that again. If we couple that success with the policy initiatives of this Government such as Working for Families we do get a very powerful force for good in this country. 
I want to quickly share with the Committee two of those success stories. Both of these young people are happy for me to use their names but I will stay with using only their Christian names. Brodie from Gore is 19 and he began to receive a sickness benefit in January 2007. Brodie was keen to find employment and he worked closely with his case manager to determine his skills and his appropriate job opportunities. The case manager liaised with a local ground-spraying business and secured an interview for Brodie. Work was begun with that firm at the end of March and Brodie is still successfully employed there. Brodie finds the job very rewarding and the new opportunities available are welcomed. He no longer receives benefit support which he had been receiving previously. 
Then there is Natelle from Whakatane. Natelle is a sole parent; she has a child. She had been receiving the domestic purposes benefit for 14 months. After her case manager explained the benefits of Working for Families to her Natelle was quite motivated to find employment. With the assistance of her case manager she did that. She found a part-time position working 20 hours a week at a childcare centre and was able to cancel her benefit in March 2007. With Natelle’s part-time wage and Working for Families assistance she now earns $117.52 more a week than she did when she was receiving the domestic purposes benefit. She is understandably pretty pleased to be working and enjoying the financial benefits that Working for Families coupled with Working New Zealand—the new employment initiatives of Work and Income—are providing for her.  
That is what this legislation is about. I have said that this legislation mandates what is already happening out there. Since 1 April this year the Working New Zealand regime—the new service approach—has been the way that people operate in all Work and Income front-line offices. People who come through the door whether they are new and in need assistance or whether they are on a regular rotational check from their case managers are receiving a level of support that was previously available only to people in receipt of the unemployment benefit. It is a simple equation actually because one can understand how busy Work and Income staff were when they had to cope with 161000 people who were looking for jobs that were not there under the political regime of our predecessors. Now that human capacity and the skills that have been further enhanced of Work and Income staff are available to all beneficiaries irrespective of the class of support they are receiving.  
That is a very powerful shift. It is a shift that is showing incredible results. It is a shift that is about supporting people not punishing them and that support works for the good of the people in this country. I know most New Zealanders would welcome a continuation of the sort of success that we have already demonstrated.