Pillay Lynne: Social Assistance (New Work Tests Incentives and Obligations) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Pillay Lynne: Social Assistance (New Work Tests Incentives and Obligations) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:13140] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour) 
: 
 I am sure it will not come as a surprise to the Committee that I stand along with my colleagues to oppose the Social Assistance (New Work Tests Incentives and Obligations) Amendment Bill. I acknowledge all the earlier speakers certainly those from this side of the Chamber for the great contributions that they have made. I urge the Minister in the chair the Hon Paula Bennett to listen to what has been said because common sense has to prevail on this issue. The one position that the Minister heralds as a wonderful wonderful thing is the benefit abatement provision in terms of income thresholds but we know that the increase in GST will wipe that out for a start. Once again people on benefits will be behind the eight ball. 
The main objective of these changes astounds me because the Government states that the main objective is to ensure a fairer system of social assistance with an “unrelenting focus on work”. Well that has to be one of the funniest things that I have heard in this Chamber apart from hearing Nick Smith answering questions about accident compensation in question time. It would be up there would it not? 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: Sad. 
Dr Rajen Prasad 
: Sad-funny. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: It is sad-funny. It is peculiar-funny and that is what the Government is about. It is a very very peculiar Government. On the one hand it says it has an unrelenting focus on work and on the other hand it creates no jobs. It says it has an unrelenting focus on work but it gives employers the ability to sack people in their first 3 months of employment. If we look at what has happened today we find that Phil Goff spoke about his visit to a supermarket opening in his electorate of Mount Roskill. There were 150 jobs and that is great but it just about became a health and safety issue because 2500 people applied for those 150 jobs and people could have been mown down in the rush. That is an absolute indictment on this Government. It is absolutely appalling. 
Then we can look at the domestic purposes benefit provision that says once a woman’s youngest child is 6 years old that woman should be back at work. I know that my colleague the wonderful Carmel Sepuloni talked about that. When my youngest child was 6 years old I went back to work. I tell the Committee that it was not easy to do so. If this Government is so intent in its unrelenting focus on getting people into work even though there is no job creation then why did it not support the legislation on flexible work hours? If this Government wants to pretend that it really fosters good working relationships then I would love it if Kate Wilkinson took a call on that issue. If the Government wants to foster good working relationships why did it not support the legislation on flexible work hours when it came in? No it did not. It wants to take a punitive approach to people getting into work. 
Labour’s track record is that when a Government provides support training and opportunities people will take advantage of them. The previous Labour Government gave people those incentives and unemployment dropped dramatically. Let us look at early childhood education. Many people who want to get back into work by taking advantage of our early childhood policy find there has been a dumbing down of the provisions: there have been funding cuts and indeed there have been cuts to the quality of early childhood education. This Government puts no money where its mouth is. In fact that would be a pretty fair comment. For the Minister who has put this bill forward it is all about using a mouth; it is all about using a big mouth. It is all about “stepping up”. There is lots and lots of using a big mouth—a big mouth about stepping up. I ask the Minister to take a call and tell us just how someone is supposed to step up when the Government uses every available opportunity to dump on people. If people step up it jumps on them and pushes them down. That is what this Government does. 
I see some of the Government members opposite. I see that Katrina Shanks looks perturbed—and Katrina often looks quite perturbed because of this Government. Indeed a number of Government members look perturbed about this Government. 
Dr Rajen Prasad 
: They are embarrassed. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: They are more than embarrassed; they are ashamed. But those Government members who are not ashamed should be. This bill does nothing at all to help people to get into work. If those members want to see people being helped to get into work they should look at the initiatives that the previous Labour Government brought in. We brought in initiatives such as support for working mothers and paid parental leave. But that was opposed by National. We brought in early childhood initiatives but the Hon Paula Bennett was the biggest opponent of early childhood education. That was absolutely shocking. Then of all things although she took every advantage every opportunity that she had in terms of the training incentive allowance to further her own career what did she do? She pulled up the ladder after herself. How the hang can people step up when there is no ladder because the Minister has pulled it up? 
We have seen some doozy bills from the Government. But this bill is up there; it is as bad as it gets. Would members agree? 
Carmel Sepuloni 
: I agree with that. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: I am really proud that we agree. Carmel Sepuloni Darien Fenton Rajen Prasad and Su’a William Sio all agree that people need to have opportunities in order to reach their full potential. We know about the dignity of work and the dignity of having a good job. I always remember something that Ken Douglas told us—and he is probably vilified by the National Government. When Ken Douglas got his first job his grandad told him to look after that job because somebody had worked very very hard to create it and the terms and conditions around it. This Government has made an absolute virtue out of decimating workplace rights and workplace pay. This Government has opposed every initiative to improve conditions of work the ability to work and the ability to train. 
I heard Steve Chadwick say earlier that nearly 160000 people are out of work. When we received that information from our research unit the figure was 159000. Given the way that this Government is going I am sure the figure will be up to 160000 by now because it escalates day by day. This Government said it would create jobs and had an unrelenting focus on work. Well I have news for this Government: if it wants people to have an unrelenting focus on work then it has to have an unrelenting focus on creating jobs so that they can work. There are no jobs no plans no training no support and nothing that helps people to get into work and to gain dignity from working. But if people do get a job hanging over their head they have the thought that at any time within the first 3 months they can be dumped for any reason whatsoever. If they managed to be one of the 150 people who got a job at the supermarket today—out of the 2500 who applied—there is no protection. There is no ability for them to be told that their employer may have some concerns about their work so they should lift your performance and step up. No they can be dumped within the first 3 months in their job. That measure comes from a Government that says it has an unrelenting focus on work. It is an absolute joke. 
Members on this side of the Chamber will continue to oppose this bill. I thank Mr Chairperson Roy for allowing me to take two calls. I know that this issue is something that he feels quite passionate about. We appreciate it that he has allowed members on this side to take those calls. I urge Government members to put up step up or shut up. If they cannot justify this bill then we urge them to listen to the common-sense profound deep and meaningful arguments from members on our side who say this legislation will not work. We say it is just a bit of good old-fashioned beneficiary-bashing. The National Government seems to think there is a lot of merit in doing that. As I have said before we oppose this bill. I am sure we will hear a lot more about it from the Labour members.