Annette King
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

5 November 2009 Media Statement
More Kiwis struggling because National has no plan

The reality of the unemployment figures released today is that there is a lot of hurt and struggle for tens of thousands of Kiwi families, Labour Deputy Leader Annette King said today.

“For many Kiwis paying bills, putting food on tables and keeping families strong has been as tough as it has ever been,” Annette King said.

“Kiwis want to work, but there has been no leadership and no plan from this Government to keep New Zealanders in their jobs through the recession. National came into office promising a brighter future, but since then over 40,000 hardworking Kiwis have lost their jobs.

“John Key and Bill English are telling New Zealanders we are through the worst of the downturn, but that's cold comfort for each of the 12,000 Kiwis who lost their jobs in the last quarter.
“While it’s distressing that 150,000 Kiwis are now unemployed it is also a major concern that an additional 122,000 New Zealanders are not getting as much work as they need.
“For thousands of Kiwi families with the breadwinner now looking for work and those families trying to make ends meet things are getting worse not better.

“Labour has continually called on the Government to do more to support Kiwi jobs, to boost investment in research and development and get more New Zealanders into skills.

“But National has sat on the sidelines and done little to push back the rising tide of unemployment. John Key’s rolling maul looks more like a collapsed scrum.

“Contrast this with Australia, whose unemployment level is now lower than ours, and the gap is widening.”

Annette King, who is also Labour’s Social Development spokesperson, says overall benefit numbers continued to grow in October, by nearly 500.

“Nearly a thousand more people signed up for the DPB and the invalids and sickness benefits in October, raising questions about whether people are simply being shifted onto these benefits.

“And we've seen a big increase on the number of people on the unemployment benefit for more than a year. The figures all show the Government has done nothing to get struggling New Zealand families into jobs.”

ENDS

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