Andrew Little –
A big focus of my leadership of the Labour Party has been about creating more opportunities for young people.
It is only by giving people the freedom to achieve their goals that we can ensure they get a shot at the Kiwi dream.
If you look at the policies that we have launched in the last two years – three years’ free tertiary education, dole for apprenticeships, building 100,000 affordable homes for first home buyers, entrepreneur grants for young people – they are about creating opportunities for people that they increasingly do not have under the current government.
74,000 young adults in this country are not in employment, education, or training. Thousands of them are left by the current government to sit on the dole for months and years on end.
It is soul-destroying, and it means they are more likely to have lower incomes and be unemployed for long periods later in life.
Employment Opportunities
Our vision is that all young people who are able will be in work, training or education. To get there, we have made education more accessible with fees-free study.
We have made training more accessible with dole for apprenticeships.
And, now, I have announced the next policy to provide employment.
Under our ‘Ready for Work Policy,’ all young people who have been on the Jobseekers – Work Ready benefit for six months will be offered a full-time job for six months, paid for by the government, working on environmental and community projects.
Fostering work ethic
These will be proper jobs paying the minimum wage or better with full employment rights. This job experience will allow young people to make a valuable contribution to their community and earn an income, as well as fostering a work ethic and making them more attractive to employers.
They will do the much-needed environmental and community work that would not otherwise be carried out.
It is anticipated that many will work on Department of Conservation projects.
DoC is struggling to meet its goals in the face of funding and staffing cuts.
The area of land where pests are being controlled is falling and only 56% of tracks are maintained up to DoC standards.
Community Projects
Councils and NGOs, too, have many important environmental and community projects that they would like to do, such as riparian-planting, but cannot do because the labour cost is prohibitive.
There is lots of work that is crying out to be done that will make New Zealand a better place, and there are thousands of young people on the dole who are ready and able to do it. It just makes sense.
10,000 Participants
We estimate about 10,000 people will participate in Ready for Work.
It will cost $60 million a year but this investment will result in large savings to the government and society over time.
Labour will not abandon our young people, as National has done.
Labour will get them back working and give them hope for the future.
Andrew Little is the Leader of Labour Party and Member of Parliament. The above is a part of his speech at the Labour Party Conference held at ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland City from November 4 to November 6, 2016. A related report appears in this Section.
