Su’a William
SIO
Employment Spokesperson

12 February 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT

Kiwis want jobs, not excuses

Steven Joyce can blame officials all he likes for National’s promise to create 170,000 new jobs, but the fact remains that as Employment Minister he sat back and watched 30,000 jobs disappear from the economy last year, says Su’a William Sio.

In Parliament this afternoon Steven Joyce tried to deflect questions about National’s election promise of 170,000 new jobs over four years by saying that was a Treasury forecast.

“Steven Joyce might think blaming Treasury gets him off the hook, but it doesn’t. National campaigned on creating new jobs, but instead the workforce has shrunk. That’s not the brighter future John Key promised New Zealanders.

“National is in complete denial about the scale of the unemployment problem facing this country. 163,000 Kiwis are looking for work – they are not looking for more excuses from the Government.

“We can’t afford to sit back and watch as tens-of-thousands of people give up on the labour force. We should never accept an unemployment rate of 30% for 15 to 19-year-olds, 14.8% for Māori and 16% for Pasifika.

“Steven Joyce should just come clean with New Zealanders and admit that the Government has no idea how to create jobs.

“It’s time for fresh thinking, and for a hands-on Government that will make job creation a priority,” says Su’a William Sio.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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>>