Venkat Raman
Auckland, August 7, 2022
People who are able but out of jobs will be supported to become gainfully employed, with those refusing to comply losing out on benefits are among the changes that Christopher Luxon will introduce if voted to form the government after the 2023 general election.
He said that his government will offer a $1000 bonus to people who are less than 25 years old, have been on benefit for 12 months or longer but start work and stays off benefit for the next 12 consecutive months. Such people have successfully broken their welfare dependency, he said.
Mr Luxon was unanimously elected as Leader of the Party on November 30, 2021.
Since then, he has unified and reinvigorated the Party and has been rising in popularity. His continued rise in poll rankings has boosted the confidence of the rank and file in the Party.
Video Courtesy: The New Zealand Herald
Accountability and Performance
Addressing the National Party Conference at the Christchurch Convention Centre this morning (August 7, 2022), he said that welfare dependency pushes people further away from the rungs of social mobility and that a National government will insist on accountability and performance.
“If government departments cannot deliver, we will find someone else who can. So, in this case, we will bring community providers into the mix, redirecting some funding from the Ministry of Social Development, and getting community providers to do the job instead. We will contract them to provide under 25-year-olds who have been on a benefit for three months or more, with a dedicated job coach to help them get into work. Young jobseekers will get more support, with a proper assessment of their barriers, and an individual job plan to address those barriers and find a job. If we don’t do that, they will be on and off welfare for years,” he said.
Mr Luxon said that welfare should not be an easy option and every person who is able and physically and mentally fit should be in a job.
He said that sanctions will be imposed on people for non-compliance.
“Our will be about people’s potential to contribute, not just their entitlements. That is what a society built on rights and responsibilities is all about. Any changes need to be fair to jobseekers, and fair to taxpayers. I believe this policy has that balance right,” he said.
Social Investment Model
However, National will continue to have welfare measures in place to support the needy, he said.
Mr Luxon said that he would use the Social Investment Model introduced by Bill English during his tenure as the Finance Minister from November 2008.
“We will do more under the Social Investment Model which uses long-term data to work out where and when targeted actions should occur to change the course of a person’s life and taxpayers’ liability – for the better. We want all New Zealanders to be able to pursue their aspirations. A good education, followed by a job, is the best and usually the only long-term path to achieving this. When it comes to welfare, every New Zealand government, Labour or National, will always support those who permanently cannot work and those who are temporarily unable to work,” he said.
But National differs from Labour on employment, Mr Luxon said.
“Having a job in early adulthood sets you up for success throughout your working life. Conversely, if you are on a benefit before you turn 20, across your lifetime, you are likely to spend 12 years on welfare,” he said.
Mr Luxon believes that every New Zealander should take personal responsibility and be proud.
Inclusive Society
“All of us want to live in a New Zealand that embraces diversity and multi-culturalism, recognises the Treaty, acknowledges Auckland as the biggest Pasifika city in the world, welcomes needed migrants, but that first and foremost serves the common cause of all New Zealanders.
“We want a country that emphasises what unites us, instead of what divides us. A country that says absolutely, explicitly, that there is one standard of democracy, equal voting rights and no co-governance of public services. That is the New Zealand in which I want to live,” he said
Mr Luxon accused Labour of extravagance and wasteful spending and that since that Party formed the government (in 2017), 50,000 more people are dependent on the Jobseeker benefit than when National was in office five years ago.
“Since Labour came into office, there are four times as many people living in cars, four times as many on the state house waiting list, and 4000 children in motels at a cost of $1 million a day. This government is spending $5 billion more a year on education but now only 46% of our children are attending school regularly. These are economic and social failures under Jacinda Ardern’s watch, yet she never holds herself or her ministers accountable for them,” he said.
Future New Zealand
Mr Luxon set his vision which he said looks at a more confident, positive, ambitious and aspirational New Zealand, a country with a government that backs those who want to get ahead, manages a more productive economy, respects taxpayers, and actually gets things done.
“I envisage a society built on New Zealanders’ rights and responsibilities to each other, and to our country; a New Zealand where young people go overseas to act on a bigger stage, not to escape the cost of living and lack of opportunities here at home; a country with welfare and education initiatives that help people flourish; a country that meets its emission reduction targets; a country that holds on to its ethos of fairness, including to the generations that follow ours; A country that fosters social mobility and that encourages government, businesses and communities to work together,” he said.
The two-day Conference was attended by National MPs, candidates hoping to contest in the 2023 general election, the Board of Directors and members of various National Party groups.
