Bennett Paula: Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett Paula: Appropriation (2010/11 Estimates) Bill — Third Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Sitting date: 03 August 2010. Volume:665;Page:12918. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 The speech made by the member who has just resumed his seat David Parker was a fine example of a speech from a party that lacks vision lacks direction lacks a leader and needs to step up and step forward for New Zealand. When it comes to Vote Employment there is a lot of talk at the moment about employment opportunities for young people for those who are struggling most and for those who are feeling the effects of the recession. 
We might think that the Opposition would be holding the Government to account and we just heard a fine speech on how it wishes to hold people to account and everything else. At the estimates debate this year at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee the previous Minister for Social Development and Employment the Hon Annette King did not even ask for Vote Employment to be debated. Labour purports to be the party that speaks for workers and wants to step up on employment but it did not even ask the Minister to present on Vote Employment. I ask members to ask themselves how that is asking the questions and identifying problems. 
Last year the Opposition did ask for Vote Employment to be debated so I fronted up but in the more than half-hour that I was there not one question on employment or unemployment was asked. I suppose after that performance last year Labour members decided to simply wash their hands of it and to not even ask questions about Vote Employment and what it means for people who are trying to find jobs. 
In all fairness I have to say that Annette King is probably kind of busy at the moment. She is trying to rally a party that is falling to bits. She is trying to find some meaning. Her name is not being bandied around as leader though which would be pretty hard for her to take I am sure. Let me quote Annette King directly from last week when the Chris Carter saga was all unfolding. She said: “I don’t know but as you know I am a former minister of police and let’s say we are following some leads.” Was that the handwriting on the letter or the fact that Mr Carter was on camera? Annette King is a former dental nurse so was she checking dental records? Maybe she was out there seeing whether he had kissed the envelope and whether she could trace it back through some sort of saliva test. That is what Ms King was spending her time on last week. As I say she did say that as a former Minister of Police she was following some leads. 
Annette King is stepping up and holding me to such account that she has withdrawn from the Social Services Committee. Let me put that in perspective: the most senior Labour member on that committee now is Dr Rajen Prasad. 
Hon Member 
: Who? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Yes. Ms King has withdrawn from the select committee on which she is the Opposition spokesperson—the shadow Minister as such—and is no longer even on the select committee to be following it through. That is how much she is stepping up and seeing it as important. So there was no request to debate Vote Employment at the estimates debate at the select committee. There was no talk about what is happening on employment unemployment and what is going on there. But fortunately this Government is stepping up and doing something about it. 
So let us talk about what the Government is doing. We have invested an extra $302 million in response to the recession. That funding comes through in the ReStart package the Job Support Scheme summer student jobs the Community Response Fund and Youth Opportunities. Obviously Job Ops was such a success that the first 6000 opportunities were taken up very quickly so in the Budget we have just had we presented another $27.6 million in funding doubling the opportunities on Job Ops with an extra 6000 places. Since then we have announced another 1500 places on Community Max identifying the more urban areas that need those sorts of programmes. Job Ops works well in the towns and cities where we have a number of employers who can step up and take the young people on and quite frankly the results have been outstanding. Of those who have completed their Job Ops and done the 6 months’ work 92 percent to date have not gone back on benefits. 
Paul Quinn 
: Unbelievable. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: That is kind of unbelievable. In terms of the young people who have gone through the Community Max programme more than 70 percent have avoided going back on to benefits. That is pretty outstanding. 
Earlier I was listening to the debate and I was hearing things about the comparison between New Zealand and Australia and where we are at with that. Let us take the percentage of the working-age population who are receiving an unemployment-related benefit. In New Zealand that percentage is 2.1 percent; in Australia the figure is 4.7 percent. That tells us that we are getting somewhere. It tells us that Job Ops is making a difference Community Max is making a difference and the economic stimulus we are seeing is making a difference but it is time to look at the balance and how and where we get it right. 
The summary of the Budget shows that we have introduced $88 million for Future Focus and some of the welfare changes. Members will see increases in abatement thresholds. That means that those who are on the domestic purposes benefit and those on the invalids benefit can earn $20 a week more before it affects their benefits. That will make quite a big difference. That level has not been raised for years and years and the increase means people on those benefits can step up. We have $53 million going towards that initiative increasing abatement thresholds for those who are affected. That goes into their pocket and I think that is a good thing. 
The Budget also introduced a new study loan for sole parents who are on the domestic purposes benefit with another $9 million in funding along with changes to out-of-school care and recreation which recognise that parents need help with after-school and before-school care. We are looking at how we can make that better organised get rid of red tape and make sure that those sorts of opportunities are there for those parents. 
Budget 2010 was the first time we saw $15 million go directly into initiatives for teen parents and that is something I am proud of. Not only are we supporting teen mums who we know struggle at times and can have a bit of a hard row to hoe—having a wee one to think of while they are still relatively young and trying to find their feet—but we are also providing parenting support for teen fathers. To me it feels sometimes that we do not acknowledge the role teen fathers can play and how they can do it. There are some good New Zealanders out there who want to back them and work alongside them. 
At the moment we are putting together a group to look at how we can work with those teen dads to help them. Supported houses for teen parents will make a difference—they absolutely will make a difference. We have $6.2 million going into that initiative and I hope I get to celebrate its successes so I can continue to prod my Cabinet so that we can get a bit more. These initiatives mean we are wrapping those services around those young people and their children over a period of time. It teaches them about what it means to budget live in a house buy food and cook it and raise a family at the same time. We all acknowledge that those things can be huge pressures on them and I am really proud of those initiatives. 
We have also developed the Community Response Model and we have seen $90.5 million go into it. That model means local places are more involved in decisions about social services making the services more regional and getting the funding at the grassroots. That is also making the current spend of $110 million through the family and community services group far more transparent with local people on those forums. Adding in another $90.5 million will make a direct difference to their priorities. It is about what happens for them locally what makes a difference and what we can actually do. 
We will be increasing GST and we will make sure that people are compensated for the increase. This will cost around $420 million and I am responsible for making sure that that is rolled out on 1 October. So I say to those superannuitants who are feeling the effects and are a little bit concerned that I give them my guarantee that they will see compensation come through for that change in GST. They will also see changes because of changes to the real wage and thus the percentage of that wage. 
So payments will increase by over 2 percent for those receiving superannuation the veterans allowance the unemployment benefit the sickness benefit the invalids benefit the domestic purposes benefit the disability allowance and the child disability allowance. We are making sure that some of those allowances are rounded and are equally recognised for the changes they need. 
This Budget is a great Budget that delivers to the people. It recognises the priorities of this country and where that money needs to be. I am very very proud to be standing up for those who need our help most. Thank you.