Ardern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ardern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 29 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6942. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
4. 
JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development 
: Does she stand by her statement “No one wants to see young people floundering on benefits and we will keep the focus on our youth however evidence tells us the programmes this Government has introduced are making a difference”? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development) 
: 
 Yes. In fact since I made that statement in July 2011 the total number of young people on benefit has fallen by 4100 and 33648 young people have cancelled their benefit to go into work. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Can she confirm the answers provided to questions to the Ministry of Social Development that of the 1300 young people who participated in the Limited Service Volunteer course in the last year more than 1000 either failed to complete the course or were still on a benefit 3 months later? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Yes I can. It is for a variety of reasons. We have some who fall out early because of medical reasons. I mean it is quite an active and quite an intense kind of course particularly in those first few weeks. We also have a number who fall out because they get homesick to be honest—because they get away from home for the first time. We also have some it does not suit. We are getting those numbers up as far as those we are getting into training and to work and have got a completely different way of looking at it. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Does she consider more than 50 percent of young people still being on a benefit after completing that programme evidence that her programme is not making a difference or evidence that her Government is not making a difference and that the jobs just are not there? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Actually Limited Service Volunteer is making a difference and we have seen the numbers—[ 
Interruption 
] Well if you want to listen to the answer then just zip it sweetie I am getting there. So what it is is that actually what you have got is you have got a number of people who do fall out in the first few— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think you heard what the Minister said. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I certainly did not hear what the Minister said because the noise level was too high. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Well we could hear it on this side and I suggest that if you had listened you could have heard it. It was exceptionally offensive. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I did not hear what the Minister said—I honestly did not—because the noise level was too high. When members interject excessively they may get a reaction. However if the Minister said something that has caused offence I would ask her to withdraw it. But I do not know what she said. I leave it to the Minister. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Speaking to that point of order Mr Speaker what I said was “zip it sweetie” because she had said—and within three words— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! No I did not actually call the member to speak to a point of order. I actually asked her—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! That will do. I asked the Minister if she had said something offensive to withdraw it. It appeared though it was not. Compared with other language I have heard used around this House it would appear that it was not that offensive. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! It related to excessive interjections and the Minister says she said “zip it”— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: No no no—she said “zip it sweetie”. That’s what she said. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Can I ask the—[ 
Interruption 
] No order! Order! I am now on my feet. Thank you. If we get too offended by that sort of thing—had it come out without provocation I would have treated it far more seriously. But given that there was so much interjection that I could not even hear it—and members have got to think about this. If they interject excessively they may get comments back that are not great. If it was outrageously offensive I would have required it to be withdrawn. But no one can say that was outrageously offensive. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! A point of order has been called. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Mr Speaker if that term was used to a member who was not a younger woman member—in that sort of approach—I think you would find it offensive. We certainly found it offensive here and I ask you whether that term is something that is appropriate. “Zip it” might have been all right but— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Look there is a myth that there are certain terms that are ruled out in this House. It is a myth—there are none. Members should treat this place this House with respect and members should treat each other with courtesy. If members interject in a rude manner they may get a less than perfect reaction from the Minister. The level of interjection was so high that I did not hear what the Minister had said. I accept my hearing is less than ideal. I fully accept that and I apologise for it. But I believe that if we allow ourselves to get worked up over that we are just being unnecessarily petty. The solution is simple: do not interject so much. It was not necessary. The member had asked a question and should be interested in the answer. It was difficult to hear the answer so the Minister felt provoked and said something that was less than ideal but under the circumstances I am not going to ask the Minister to withdraw and apologise for it. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: I am going to answer the question if I might. So for the 50 percent what we have seen is an increase in the numbers that have actually been going into work and training in the last 12 months. What we have tried to do is get better connection into training establishments and into the workforce so they now hold workforce seminars which are making a bit of a difference. We are seeing more connection into jobs. We have Work and Income working with them over the whole 6 weeks while they are in Limited Service Volunteers. These are people who have been on benefit. It is not easy for them to find work but we have been getting better results more recently than we ever have and I think we can continue to grow on that. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: If there are jobs out there why did the Prime Minister recently write letters to employers asking them to take on Limited Service Volunteer graduates with the sweetener that they can be paid less? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Well that sweetener is actually about our connecting them with the Job Streams which means that they can get a part subsidy which is something that the Opposition is constantly calling out for. So it is effectively a wage subsidy that helps those people in the first 6 months in their jobs or even through to a year now when we individualise it more. The Prime Minister is pretty passionate about getting young people into work. The fact that he is now shouting out to employers and saying: “Here are some young people who are ready who are active who are turned on to the facts of going on to jobs. I would like you to give them a chance.” I think is absolutely positive stuff and good on him for actually getting ahead of it. 
Le’aufa’amulia Asenati Lole-Taylor 
: How can she stand by her answer to the primary question when unemployment among Pacific youth has reached up to 40 percent under this Government? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: The number that the member is talking about is actually around the household labour force survey and not about those who are on benefits. But we know there is work to be done. We have seen improvements with those numbers on the unemployment benefit since January 2011 when it peaked under the recession. We have been making headway with the numbers of those who are stuck on benefits over longer periods of time and we think that we can continue to do that. 
Jacinda Ardern 
: Does the Minister believe that the job market is so bouncy that it is justification for her decision to change the number of times she reports on benefit figures from 12 times a year to just four times a year? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Let us be clear: we have got a whole new way of reforms that are going through under welfare. So what we are going to be seeing is an investment approach. We are going to be getting much better information out there. It will be far more robust. And yes actually things do change month to month. Reporting on a quarterly basis—which we have been signalling for more than 12 months now I might like to say to the member—will show that we are being more robust and show more information I think that will make more sense.