Hon Tau Henare, Minister of Maori Affairs, leader of Mauri Pacific

Employment spokesperson has not been determined
http://www.mauripacific.org.nz/

1. What are your employment policies? What employment initiatives will your government take?

Although the unemployment rate for Maori is falling (19.5% - Dec 1998/19.0% March 99), they are still over-represented in unemployment statistics. The statistics: 18.2% of the Maori working population are unemployed, compared to 5.1% of non-Maori unemployed.

Mauri Pacific proposes to confront Maori unemployment by:

— Bolstering capital funding to build the Maori economic base

— Trade training schemes to improve Maori skill base

— Developing a National Maori employment strategy

— Funding holistic-training providers

— Job retention incentive

2. What is your party view on the future of work and income?

There is a cultural element missing in work creation for Maori and Pacific Island people. Mauri Pacific will examine ways to promote cultural diversity in work creating schemes, and how that can be translated into a decent income.

3. What changes, if any, would you make to the new Winz department?

Employment policies have lacked a cultural focus, and to date WINZ has been operating without a Maori employment policy. This is despite the overwhelming numbers of Maori who are WINZ clients. Mauri Pacific has identified four problem areas in WINZ employment policies and implementation:

— no specific national policy to address Maori unemployment

— no cultural focus of unemployment policies

— policies which focus on the unemployed individual rather than the whanau

— inflexible measures which do not take into account regional differences.

Mauri Pacific will establish regional Maori units within WINZ. These units will identify the skills and training required to fill job vacancies in each region, and work in partnership with Maori community groups who will be contracted to provide training courses, and whanau support services

4. What are your policies on the Community Wage?

The Community wage has resulted in the shuffling of unemployed workers, rather than providing real and meaningful work for the unemployed. Mauri Pacific seriously questions whether this policy is worth maintaining.

5. Will you make any changes or additions to the Winz employment subsidised work programmes?

Mauri Pacific believes that some employers have abused the JobPlus system, hiring unemployed individuals for six months to take advantage of the subsidies. This just hurts the individuals .

6. What are your policies and initiatives on education and training for the unemployed?

Mauri Pacific would continue the trade training schemes. Mauri Pacific would fully supplement beneficiaries who want to take up university or polytech courses. In our education policy, it states that we would fund continuing education for teenage mothers to ensure that they have some qualifications when they return to the workforce.

7. How will you encourage local government to be active in solving unemployment?

Mauri Pacific's policy on employment supports creating partnerships with local bodies to encourage business growth in the regions. The party recognises that there are issues like transport costs and skilled labour that hinder businesses setting up in areas like the East Cost and Northland. Mauri Pacific would work with local bodies to overcome these issues to attract new businesses to regions with high unemployment.

8. How will you encourage community groups working in this field?

Community groups need more flexibility to administer any policy. They also need the room to tailor government policies, and trade training to suit regional needs, because each region comes with different resources and advantages which need to be honed to benefit the local community.