24 June 2009 Media Statement

Third time lucky for 9 day fortnight?

The Government is scrambling to patch up its flagship 9 day fortnight scheme for the third time, Labour Leader Phil Goff said today.

Documents obtained and released by Labour today reveal Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is having a third attempt at getting the 9 day fortnight to work.

“Mark I and Mark II of John Key’s 9 day fortnight haven’t worked so John Key is having another crack at it,” Phil Goff said.

“This simply isn’t good enough. John Key and his Ministers don’t seem to have a grasp on how concerned New Zealanders are about job security.

“The fact the government is hurriedly trying to get Mark III of the 9 day fortnight up and running is further evidence National’s response to increasing unemployment has been ad hoc.

“Yesterday John Key had his officials scrambling to make the number of jobs saved by his 9 day fortnight look as good as possible.

“They found an additional 32 jobs, that’s just 10% of the Kiwis who are losing their job every day.

“Nothing has been done since John Key’s Job Summit in February to prevent an additional 16,000 New Zealanders joining the dole queues. And last month’s Budget offered no assistance to Kiwis worries about losing their jobs.”

Phil Goff says John Key and Bill English seem to be taking a “Big Wednesday” approach to tackling unemployment.

“They seem to think that betting on a few small initiatives and hoping for a win will be the answer to New Zealand’s increasing unemployment,” Phil Goff said.

“This is no time to gamble the livelihoods of New Zealanders on a small number of job initiatives that aren’t working.

“It’s time for a real plan to keep Kiwis in work. It’s time for urgent action to stimulate the economy and investment in up skilling New Zealanders to prepare for when the economy recovers.” Phil Goff said.

ENDS

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