[Sitting date: 02 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:5. Text is subject to correction.]

5. MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment : What reports has he received on the importance of skilled workers in ensuring the New Zealand economy continues to grow?

Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment): I have received a number of reports. New Zealand’s unemployment rate is steadily declining and is now the lowest it has been since before the global financial crisis—in fact, the South Island unemployment rate is now just 3.4 percent. Although this is positive news for the New Zealand economy, it is starting to lead to emerging skills gaps. To help fill these gaps, we are training more people, and recently we have held our first two job fairs in Australia to attract expat Kiwis and skilled Aussies to New Zealand. Around 3,000 people have attended those. I have also seen international travel and migration statistics for October, which show positive net arrivals from Australia for the first time since December 1993. What is clear is that more people are voting with their feet and returning home to work in a growing economy.

Melissa Lee : What is the Government doing to encourage new job creation, and how does that contrast with other proposals he has seen advocated?

Hon STEVEN JOYCE : This is a Government that is very focused on creating and growing more jobs and more work for New Zealanders, and 159,000 new jobs have been created since Budget 2011 through a comprehensive package that includes 90-day trials, the starting out wage, investment in key infrastructure projects, and making sensible changes to the Resource Management Act to speed up consenting. That contrasts with other proposals I have seen that would destroy jobs: abolishing 90-day trials and the starting out wage, big increases to compulsory KiwiSaver rates, five new taxes, and an expensive emissions trading scheme. Not surprisingly, those positions were all advocated by the Opposition parties.

Melissa Lee : What other recommendations has he received on how to create jobs?

Hon STEVEN JOYCE : The most recent suggestion I have seen is for the establishment of a discussion group of politicians to investigate important and pressing issues such as: “What is work? Who does work? How is work changing? What will work be?”. These are undoubtedly important academic questions! Of course, in the meantime businesses and employees are getting on and adapting to a changing and growing economy. Nevertheless, I understand that the discussion group has been successful. It is creating a job for one person, or at least something to keep him busy. This person, of course, is lifetime politician, student politician, student, noted workaholic, and leadership aspirant Grant Robertson.

ENDS

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