"Public submissions on the Social Security (Work test) Amendment Bill could hardly have been handled in a more off-hand manner. For a select committee to sit for just half a day in Wellington, and the same paltry amount of time in Auckland, to hear criticism and comment on the Bill's work-for-the-dole scheme was cavalier in the extreme. Unfortunately for the state of democracy in this country, such an approach is proving all too common

"The rights and wrongs of what is an ideologically driven piece of legislation are not the key issue. What is at stake here is the public's right to be heard, and for select committees to take the time to listen to criticism, ask questions and reach dispassionate conclusions. Decisions made by the National and NZ First caucuses should not be the be-all and end-all of the law-making process"
-- New Zealand Herald Editorial, 10 July 1998

" To rush the cornerstone of the government's social policy through without listening to what the people of NZ are saying makes the whole process a farce and brings Parliament into disrepute"
-- Steve Maharey, Labour's employment spokesman

"The Bill is so concerned with work-testing beneficiaries, that it fails to consider the consequences this will have for children. The message is clear: the government does not recognise or value the role of parenting, by coercing work on beneficiaries and taking a very punitive approach"
-- submission by the Children's Agenda, to the select committee

"The Select Committee consideration of the controversial compulsory work test legislation has been reduced to a farce. There were no public submissions allowed on the first part of the policy and no Select Committee debate. That Act was rammed through under urgency when it was not urgent at all.

"Now the second stage of a proposal with massive personal, social, industrial and constitutional implications has been allocated just one day for the hearing of all submissions on this Bill. The CTU has been allocated a slot of 25 minutes, to be shared with another organisation. This means that before allowing for introductions and pleasantries, the CTU has been allocated twelve minutes to present and defend a detailed 17 page submission. This is simply ridiculous. There is no other word for it.

"We are constantly told that the Select Committee process is a cornerstone of New Zealand's democratic structure. If that is so, the way in which public submissions on this Bill are being handled holds that democratic structure up to ridicule and contempt"
-- Angela Foulkes, CTU Secretary

"It seemed an oddly careless approach to a law change of such moment. PM Jenny Shipley has described it as a cornerstone for her Administration, and the Treasurer last week rather extravagantly called it the single most important piece of social policy this century.

"The irony is that the committee sat on the same day economists forecast unemployment will rise by 20,000 this year. Working for the dole will begin just as the recession starts biting. But Tuesday's events suggest the select committee process has everything to do with nut-and-bolt tightening and nothing to do with public participation"
-- Peter Calder, New Zealand Herald columnist

"In the social policy legislation, 90% of the submissions are against what is proposed. They are important. They are not going to change underlying government policy, but we do welcome them "
-- Joy McLaughlin, select committee chairwoman.

"No one will miss out having a say on the proposed law changes. Everyone who wanted to make an oral submission also made a written submission, and each of those submissions are now being considered by me, and the select committee members.

"I am reading the written submissions this weekend. I have taken them home to read along with my other Ministerial papers. I am genuinely interested in getting feedback and am open to change if the changes are for the better"
-- Peter McCardle, Minister of Employment

"Work for the Dole is slavery -- a breach of the United Nations convention on forced labour. Or so brayed the bludgers' brigade in `evidence' to the parliamentary social services select committee last week. Who's kidding whom? Someone working for the dole is not a slave. He/she will not be forced to work. He/she has a choice.

"The real slaves are working people -- those trendy trade unionists at last week's select committee hearing claim to represent. In fact, we're the bludgers' slaves. We work and the government confiscates the fruits of our labour so these parasites can sit on their backsides. There are no winners -- except, perhaps, the bureaucrats administering a system that demeans us all"
-- editorial in The Independent, 15 July 1998