Press Release: For Immediate Release

Young Labour: Budget Has Failed

Tuesday, 2 June 2009

“We needed a budget for jobs, a budget for skills – a budget for the future,” said Patrick Leyland, Young Labour President, this morning.

“Instead, English stood up on Thursday and shamelessly sold New Zealand’s future for cheap to credit rating companies.”

Young Labour’s two core budget concerns are education and employment. “The Budget is always a calculation of priorities and necessities. But the National Party have got their figures badly wrong.” Mr Leyland explained.

“We must take full advantage of these economic conditions to upskill and upgrade our workforce. But big business, not ordinary kiwis, have always been the focus of the National Party.”

• Schools Plus has been scrapped and Youth Guarantee has been suspended
• An almost identical amount has been allocated to propping up private schools as has been put aside for improving literacy standards
• StepUp scholarships – a tertiary award specifically targeted at students from lower income families – have been scrapped
• Bonded scholarships, that keep talented kiwis in NZ have been abandoned despite the Nat’s dog whistle lines about “brain drain”
• Industry experts have calculated a probable education sector cut of $300 million by 2013
• Industry training and apprenticeships are experiencing real term funding cuts
• An education sector spokesperson labeled the budget a “body blow” to tertiary education

“John Key used his leader’s speech to herald the ‘hundreds and hundreds of jobs’ that will be created on the back of this budget. With almost 1400 extra NZers signing up for the dole each week and unemployment increasing by over 7% for 20-24 year olds in the March quarter alone, it is painfully apparent how “ambitious for NZ” and out of touch Key really is.”

• Almost $15 million has been cut from the Employment Assistance programme
• Pathways to Partnership increases have been cut by $12.2 million in the coming year, $57.4 million in 2010-11 and $24.5 million in 2011-12
• Enterprising Communities Fund, which supports community initiatives to create jobs, is being cancelled
• There are no initiatives to tackle the appalling rates of youth joblessness but ‘boot camps’ are still fully funded

“These facts need to be highlighted. This government has been spinning so fast to hide their true intentions that they have dug New Zealand an ever deeper hole from which to climb. This cannot continue.” Leyland concluded.

ENDS

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