Flailing Employment Minister bereft of ideas

With the number of jobs being created and the economy slowing and business confidence dropping it’s becoming increasingly clear the Government has no clue what to do about it, National’s Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment spokesperson Paula Bennett says.

“Employment Minister Willie Jackson’s appearance on The Nation this morning was another clear sign this Government is flailing and has no ideas as it waits for its 160-odd working groups to report back with instructions on how to arrest New Zealand’s economic decline.

“When asked how he plans to get people into work - or put simply, do his job – Mr Jackson was left waffling about asking Grant Robertson for more money, trying to change Winston Peters’ mind about targeted funding for Māori and talking to employers ‘in terms of the seasons and what’s happening’.

“But he can’t say what his plans are for turning around job creation which has plummeted 60 per cent since the election, what his target is for Māori unemployment, how many jobs will be lost as a result of the Government’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $20 by 2021 or how he will help employers fill labour shortages during peak seasons.

“What’s worse is even then he’s at odds with his colleagues. He says the answer to labour shortages isn’t to bring labour in from overseas when his colleague Shane Jones is saying he wants to do exactly that to help plant his trees.

“Like the rest of his Government Mr Jackson is all talk, though he is even less convincing than most. What’s becoming increasingly clear is this Government has no clue about how to arrest dropping business confidence, declining job creation and a slowing economy - much of which can be sheeted home to its anti-growth policies.

“All this adds to the uncertainty gripping business. The Government’s economic management is clearly in disarray and New Zealanders are paying the price.”

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