Welfare reforms leave a lot to be desired

The Government’s announcement today that it is to ‘invest’ more in support for young people will come as a surprise to the thousands of 18 and 19 year olds that will not be eligible for training or employment assistance under the new regime, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. “Paula Bennett might have found some ...

Minister’s rebuffs hint at Green Paper agenda

A refusal by the Minister of Social Development to release submissions on her Green Paper on Vulnerable Children more than hints at another attempt to stifle debate on what is a hugely important issue, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. After several failed attempts through Official Information Act requests and Written Parliamentary Questions to gain ...

Rob Salmond Lecture Friday 4th May

Youth package heads in one direction – the wrong one

The Government's youth welfare package, which looks to repeat the mistakes of places such as the UK, has left those working on the front line with more questions than answers, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. “The tender process closes today, yet the Ministry's own question and answer forum shows potential service providers have major ...

Alarm at welfare reform process

An almost unanimous call for the Government to slow down its welfare reforms threatened to become the major issue of a Social Services Select Committee meeting today, according to Labour’s spokesperson for Social Development Jacinda Ardern and Labour committee members Rajen Prasad and Sua William Sio. “With 11 days to produce a submission on these reforms, ...

Time for action, not more words, on child poverty

The Government must act on the findings and recommendations from the Children’s Commissioners newly established expert group to find solutions to child poverty if it wants to retain any credibility, Labour’s Social Development and Children’s spokesperson, Jacinda Ardern says. “The establishment of this group is to be applauded. It has been tasked by the Commissioner with ...

Scorecard shows Government failing children

Labour is again calling for the Government to broaden the scope of its Green Paper on Vulnerable Children in the wake of the worrying findings from the Salvation Army Report titled ‘The Growing Divide’. “The report released today gives the Government a C- for child poverty and a D for the level of children at risk ...

Statistics can’t hide the truth

Media Statement       31/1/2012 With almost twice as many people on the unemployment benefit now as when National first became the government, it is glaringly obvious it has to take a serious look at its policies, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. “Statistics, which should have been released before now, show that as of the end of ...

Child welfare must be first priority of 2012

A bipartisan approach to child welfare must be the Government’s first priority in 2012, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern said today. Her call for cross-party support was reignited by information released by the Ministry of Social Development revealing Child Youth and Family paid out more than $837,000 to settle 55 claims where the agency was ...

New poor stretching food bank resources

With just three days to go before most of us settle in to Christmas holiday mode, the fact that thousands of ‘new poor’ will be making do with a food parcel is a sobering reminder of the growing poverty in Godzone, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. “Agencies around the country are grappling to keep ...