Government failing our whanau
Confirmation that 2000 people are being made unemployed each week shows the Government is failing to do enough to take the sharp edges off the recession to support our whanau, says Labour’s Maori Affairs spokesperson Parekura Horomia.
“Today’s Household Labour Force survey shows Maori unemployment is now sitting at 12.6 per cent, over double the overall unemployment rate of six per cent in the quarter to June.
“The overall increase is the highest quarterly increase since September 1988. There are now 138,000 people unemployed, an increase of 24,000 people in three months – and far too many of them are Maori,” Parekura Horomia said.
“This is extremely concerning. I’m encountering more and more households where at least one person has lost a job and they are really hurting. People are worried about losing their houses and how they will feed their families.
“I’m therefore not at all surprised by the figures released today, even if the Government claims to be. John Key attacked Labour earlier this week claiming it has been scaremongering on unemployment. Today’s figures just confirm
how out of touch he and his Ministers are.
“John Key campaigned on getting rid of our ‘struggle streets’, but exactly the opposite is happening. Maori unemployment has jumped from 8.1 per cent in the June quarter last year to 12.6 per cent in the same quarter this year.
“More women are losing their jobs than men, which is also of great concern. Increasing employment opportunities for Maori women was an important focus of the last Government and was seen as crucial to reducing disparities. The last thing we need is a backwards step.
“We’ve seen very few jobs created in the last nine months and the spectacular failure of the two flagship recession schemes. The nine day fortnight scheme has saved only about 400 jobs,” Parekura Horomia said.
“And the Government’s ReStart package is supporting fewer people each week despite rising unemployment. It set aside $50 million for Restart over a two year period, but has spent only $2.7 million on it to date.
“That’s just not good enough. A lot more needs to be done and the Government can start by acknowledging just how serious the situation actually is.”
