The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%.

“The Government is continuing to take Māori backwards in every possible way,” Labour spokesperson for Māori Development Willie Jackson said.

“Christopher Luxon has no plan for Māori to support whanau into meaningful employment. The Prime Minister had every opportunity to front up to Māori at Waitangi to provide a positive plan for all of us to work together. Instead, he left it to David Seymour to speak and further divide our nation.

“The reality is, when National took power the Māori unemployment rate was 8.2%. They have had more than a year to deliver results, and instead we see rising unemployment, shocking health disparities, and tragic poverty rates,” Willie Jackson said.

Unemployment among Pacific People is now 10.5%, up from 6.1% when National took office. Across all groups, unemployment reached 5.1%—a four-year high.

“The Government’s failure to deliver real results for Pacific People is shameful and shows their complete lack of attention to this community,” Labour Pacific People’s spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said.

“That is a huge increase in Pacific unemployment, 1 in 10 Pacific people in New Zealand are now unemployed. This is bordering on a crisis for our people.

“Instead of supporting our people into work, this Government chooses to slash funding for frontline services, cut public sector jobs, and has left a total of 33,000 more people out of work,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

© Scoop Media