Estimates Debate — Vote Employment (continued)

Tēnā koe, Mr Chairperson. Tēnā koutou katoa. There is one word that dominates the report of the Social Services Committee on Vote Social Development and Vote Youth Development. It is a word that has been found throughout all the reports in this estimates debate: recession. In this vote we learn how Work and Income has changed the way it works since the economic downturn to concentrate more on relationships with employers. We are told about the various governmental responses to the recession, including the Restart package, the Job Support Scheme, and the Community Response Fund. We read about the committee’s concerns for the impact of the recession on young people.

There is no denial that we are caught in the grips of a volatile financial environment, a situation in which, around the globe, nations have to react quickly to rising unemployment. We are seeing the traditional forms of social protection under threat as markets become fragile and, publicly, finance services feel the pinch. The Māori Party is, of course, particularly alarmed at the continuing high levels of unemployment for rangatahi Māori—a trend that was well advanced over the last decade, tragically in a time of plenty. These young people are our leaders of tomorrow who will shape the policy direction of our nation, who will confront the ever-increasing challenge of new technologies, who will drive our economy, and who will care for us when we age. We must take care of them as an investment in our future.

The Social Services Committee reported that the Government would be considering various ways to provide young people with meaningful opportunities in employment and training. It is a commitment we have dedicated ourselves to in our efforts to ensure that there are relevant strategies for Māori and Pasifika youth. The package includes a massive plan to create close to 17,000 new opportunities, but I want to focus on two initiatives: Community Max and Job Ops.

Community Max will provide 3,000 places on local, community, and environmental projects over the next year. We know that our unemployed youth live in rural areas that will benefit from the $40.3 million investment in this scheme. The projects will be community based. They could be projects such as renovating community buildings, working on marae, and improving access to local environments. This will be real mahi in real locations. It is work that can make a difference for iwi, non-governmental organisations, local Māori and Pasifika groups, rūnanga, and incorporations.

I was really delighted to learn last week that close to 40 percent of the 120 registrations of interest received for the Community Max programme have come from Māori organisations, and I want to commend their initiative in coming forward to care for their young. I will be expecting our Government departments to be just as forward-looking in responding to the enthusiasm of communities. I have an expectation that departments will be helpful and that they too will demonstrate initiative to work together with our community in the better interests of our nation. The community groups that have been coming to my door have been saying to me: “Don’t tell us what we can’t do. Tell us what we can do, and help us to do that.” That is a very distinctive message for Work and Income.

The other focus is on the Job Ops scheme, which pumps $20 million into funding around 4,000 entry-level jobs. In essence, Job Ops will subsidise employers $5,000 for each young person hired. Just like Community Max, the programme is there to support our young people aged 18 to 24 years if they are receiving the unemployment benefit. But it also creates opportunities for any young person aged 16 or 17 who is receiving the independent youth benefit and who has left school.

When the Māori Party signed up to the relationship with National we gave voice to an aspiration that would recognise mana maintenance and enhancement. Although I would have to say that this is definitely a work in progress, there is nothing that enhances one’s mana more than the opportunity to contribute through being involved in meaningful and productive work that helps to support our w’ānau and our community. But, of course, and as the select committee report notes, there is also a need to do what we can to support critical community and voluntary sector organisations that are having trouble maintaining their services in a recession and are experiencing much higher demand.

The opportunity provided by Community Max is that some of these organisations will be able to immediately meet the demands placed upon them for increased labour, and I want to call for a united effort on all fronts. None the less, being in this House we must ensure that our community groups make the best of this opportunity so that it is a win-win for all. We often hear about the difficulties some groups face in trying to connect with youth and make their services relevant. There is no better time and no better way than using the youth opportunities packages to involve young people and organisations in order to integrate their perspectives, utilise their knowledge about modern communication, and ensure that youth are shaping our plan for the future.

Finally, I want to focus on our most vulnerable children—those who are referred to in the select committee report under the heading “Child abuse”. In the Families Commission report released earlier today we learnt that over 12,000 children and young people were found to have experienced abuse and neglect. That information should break our hearts, even more so when we read the statistics revealing that about eight in 10 abusers were family members or were living in a domestic relationship with a child. The facts and figures must provoke us to act, and that means all of us. We cannot sit idle, nohopuku, pretending that it is not happening when it is happening behind closed doors within the sanctuary of the family home. What sort of sanctuary subjects its most innocent children to the devastation of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse and neglect?

As the Minister responsible for the Government’s response to addressing and reducing the impact of family violence, I am utterly serious about ensuring I live up to that responsibility. So today I have announced the establishment of a ministerial committee to ensure that this Government invests in taking our collective responsibility to protect and care for children. The committee will bring together Ministers from a whole range of agencies so that we can collectively look at the way in which the system responds to confronting such a significant social and economic blight on our nation. We must also live up to our collective responsibility as members of families and communities to do what we can to ensure that families are resilient, respectful, and safe places to grow up in.

Child abuse cannot be addressed by a well-meaning caseworker, a vocal advocacy group, and a ministerial group in isolation. It will take all of us to work constructively and courageously to ensure that our children are protected from harm and are free to develop and experience their full potential. Tēnā koutou.

It is a pleasure to follow the Hon Tariana Turia. She just talked about the 12,000 children who are subject to neglect and abuse. I quite agree with her that it is a subject—

The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I interrupt the member. We are actually on Vote Employment, and possibly the points that you want to make come under Vote Social Development.

Correct.

The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): So I will not take up your time. We will start again on that, but I bring that to your attention. We are actually on Vote Employment. Are there any other speakers?

I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I seek a point of clarification. I realise that this is a time-limited debate, and that there are a certain number of calls for each—

The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I have just ruled that I am not taking into account the few seconds spoken by the member, because obviously he was not speaking on the vote. I am happy to start again.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Social Development