Shanks Katrina: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Shanks Katrina: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:661;Page:9502] 
KATRINA SHANKS (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to take a call tonight as the chair of the Social Services Committee. We have a very good ministry in the Ministry of Social Development. Peter Hughes and Ray Smith make a wonderful contribution. I believe the Ministry of Social Development is most probably one of the strongest ministries we have in New Zealand with the strongest leadership we have as well. Not only that but it does many many things that pre-empt what is happening. In fact when we heard a recession was coming—after the first quarter we knew a recession was coming; Labour was in Government then—it already started putting things in place to face those changes. It is very proactive. It knew that when times were getting tough when the economy was going to shrink and more people would be unemployed it would have to focus on getting those people into jobs. It looked at changing the way it was set up and helping people in their Work and Income New Zealand offices. It knew that it would have a lot of people in transition who were not going to end up getting a benefit because they would transition quickly into another job. It had to treat those people a little bit differently from the normal client base that it treats. It had to treat them so that they would not be scared to come in to say they were looking for a job and could be moved on quickly. 
I want to acknowledge the ministry in how it moved quickly in the environment that we faced. It did not wait for it to build up and get out of control; it moved quickly. It moved its resources. The ministry is a very very big ship. It is very hard to change direction but it did it quickly and swiftly and without fuss. So I acknowledge the hard work that it has put in to ensure that our vulnerable those down on their luck and those who are just unlucky to lose their jobs in a recession have been looked after as well as they possibly can be in these hard times. 
I also acknowledge the hard work that the Minister for Social Development and Employment has done. This is a Minister who has no fear this is a Minister who addresses the issues and this is a Minister who says exactly how it is. She has done many things—many things indeed—to help the people of New Zealand in this recession. She came in as a Minister when there was a recession. That was not in the good times when unemployment was low when we had high employment. It was not the good times; it was the tough times when this Minister came in. She comes into this House day after day and gives straight honest answers to questions. I acknowledge the hard work that she has put into this ministry as well into the people of New Zealand and into our most vulnerable. 
So what has she done? Well where do we start? She has done a Student Job Search summer jobs campaign which is the most relevant thing she has done just immediately because university students have just gone back. So it is important that we identified that they needed a little bit of assistance over the summer break. That was put in place. Never Ever Shake a Baby—what a fantastic campaign that is. How powerful that is. The Minister recognised that the message has not been out there for a very long time. We have had some terrible horrific cases of child abuse in New Zealand so she took that issue head on. Never Ever Shake a Baby—what a powerful message that has sent to New Zealanders. 
Then there is the Break Away package for school holidays. Thirty-thousand young people did activities during the school holidays. There are 500 places in respite camps and 100 places in the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. How relevant is that to our youth in New Zealand? It is totally relevant and so effective. 
Fresh Start for young offenders has 3000 places and programmes designed to address the causes of young offenders’ behaviour. How relevant is that coming off a review that has just been done on youth and youth offending and the new bill that was introduced into the House at the beginning of this year to address that problem? There is $152 million for the Youth Opportunities package and there are 17000 places for people aged between 16 and 24. This Government is committed and focused and so is the Minister. 
I will end by addressing a question that Annette King asked during her speech in this debate. She asked where the money is coming from. I can say that the money will be there because we are watching the money; we are very focused on the economy unlike Labour which seems to be able to waste money. Imagine if Labour had not spent the money on the tax bus. Imagine if Labour had not spent the money on the national standards bus. How much did that cost? Imagine how many children could be helped with that amount of money. 
Report noted.