Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
7 February 2013

National Relying on Australia for Its Employment Policy

New Zealand First says the latest unemployment figures are a disastrous result for the Government which is relying on the economic might of Australia as its employment policy.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says the Government will flail about trying to put our terrible rate of unemployment in a good light but they aren’t fooling anyone.

“The reality is that we have a mass exodus of workers heading to Australia to work in well-paid jobs.

“If that 50,000-plus annual exodus suddenly stopped because of an Australian recession then our unemployment rate would go through the roof.”
Mr Peters says the Government is being disingenuous in warning New Zealanders heading to Australia that they won’t get full social security benefits for years.

“They don’t really want to stop the exodus because they realise that scenario, coupled with their lack of employment policy, would lead New Zealand up a certain creek without a paddle.”

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>