On Labour’s plan to scrap youth rates:

CORIN DANN: So you’re doing a lot of work targeting, you’ve got programmes aimed at these young workers who can’t get jobs, what is happening to the youth rate? So that’s $13.20 at the moment. Your government pledged to get rid of it. Is it going?

WILLIE JACKSON: Well, not initially Corin, not initially.

CORIN DANN: Hang on. Your government pledged to get rid of that in the first year of government.

WILLIE JACKSON: You’re talking about the Labour Party. Well it’s a coalition government. Things change when you become a coalition. You know that and I know that.

CORIN DANN: That’s fair enough.

WILLIE JACKSON: So what you say on the campaign and what you want to do is compromised when you become a coalition government.

CORIN DANN: Are you sure that was said in the campaign? It was said in government as well.

WILLIE JACKSON: The reality is we are working towards a living wage … we agree to disagree sometimes we still want a living wage.

CORIN DANN: You can’t get rid of the youth wage because of New Zealand First.

WILLIE JACKSON: Well we’ll see. We’re still talking. We’ll continue to talk with Winston and Shane over the youth rate.

Please find the full interview available here on our you-tube page

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