Unemployment impact particularly savage on Maori

The shocking rise in unemployment in the last quarter is even worse in its impact on Maori than for the general population, Labour Maori Affairs spokesperson Parekura Horomia says.

“While unemployment nationally has jumped from 6 percent to a staggering 6.8 percent, the Maori rate has climbed from 14.2 percent to 16.4 percent,” Parekura Horomia said.

“That means that 26,400 Maori are now without jobs --- that is an increase of 3600 since the previous quarter.”

Parekura Horomia said the situation was even worse because the unemployment rate was higher in places like the East Coast and the Far North.

“In Gisborne-Hawke’s Bay, for example, the rate is up from 6.5 percent to 8.5 percent, an increase of 2100 people. That’s a huge amount, but you can be sure that even within that figure, the impact on Maori will be still higher.

“The National Government has no credible economic plan to create jobs and build a strong economy for New Zealand.

“The opposite is the case. We are moving from one pie in the sky idea to another, and Kiwis are increasingly becoming the victims.”

Parekura Horomia said the Maori Party must be seriously concerned about the impact of unemployment on Maori.

“They must be coming to the realisation that its coalition partner’s failure to provide a strong way forward for our economy is having a disproportionately savage effect on Maori generally, and particularly in our poorest regions.”

ENDS

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