And the number of sole parents on the domestic purposes benefit has fallen below 100,000 for the first time since 1995. There are now around 98,112 sole parents on the benefit — over 3,000 fewer than a year ago and nearly 6,000 fewer than in December 1999.

The overall number of working-aged New Zealanders on all welfare benefits is down to 292,000 — 21% fewer than in 1999 and this is the first time in 16 years the figure is below 300,000. The figures do not include the growing number of people on pensions.

Since 1999, fewer than 7% of people moving off the unemployment benefit went onto a sickness benefit. Minister of Social Development Steve Maharey says this figure confirmed that the huge fall in unemployment benefits has been because people have moved into jobs, not a result of people moving onto sickness benefits.

Source — Media release, Steve Maharey, 14 April 2005 "Unemployment down by a quarter in one year".

MAYORS MEET WITH POLITICAL PARTIES

The political representatives speaking to the meeting included Dr Wayne Mapp (National), Brian Donnelly (NZ First), Paul Adams (United Future), Monte Ohia (Maori Party), Sue Bradford (Green), Ken Shirley (ACT) and the Minister of Social Development and Employment Steve Maharey (Labour).

Maharey: "We've spent the past five years working hard to reduce the sustained high unemployment of the 1990s. As unemployment has dropped the government has shifted its focus to the quality of employment in New Zealand — not just the quantity of jobs. This has meant more emphasis has been placed on productivity, participation and the skills of workers. It's now time to recognise that these are the employment issues of the future."

"The government and the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs have always shared the vision of full employment. As we move closer to achieving that vision, we should be working together to improve the quality of jobs for both workers and employers..."

Source — vivian Hutchinson, Community Adviser to the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs; Speech by Steve Maharey to the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs 18 April 2005 "Time to broaden New Zealand's employment agenda"

The campaigners believe that by starting with the child, rather than the family, the right questions will be asked and flexible policies can be developed to meet children's needs. They say that while families are central to a child's well-being, families come in many forms and this can confuse or distract policy makers. And starting from a families perspective — rather than the child's — there is always a risk that adults' needs will be placed before those of children or adult agendas get in the way of what is best for children.

Barnardo's chairperson Warwick Harvey says a high profile campaign aimed at promoting children is long overdue. Harvey: "The campaign has struck a chord with those who no longer want to stand by and watch as the welfare of New Zealand's children continues to rank amongst the worst in the developed world. I urge all New Zealanders to register their support and ensure that the interests of children are seared into the consciences of politicians and political parties in the lead up to the General Election. We want the interests of children to figure large in the coalition agreement of the incoming government."

The organisations leading the Every Child Counts campaign are: Barnardos NZ, UNICEF NZ, Save the Children NZ, Royal NZ Plunket Society, and the Institute of Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology. Thirty organisations have signed up as supporters.

Kedgley says overseas studies show that family friendly workplace strategies reduce staff turnover and therefore recruitment costs. They also lower absentee rates, improve morale, and increase employee loyalty and workplace productivity. Kedgley: "Research suggests that many parents drop out of the labour market because they cannot find ways of combining paid work and the demands of looking after young children. Greater opportunities for flexible working will enable some parents who would otherwise leave the labour market to remain in employment at the end of maternity leave. An increased employment rate for parents of young children will have benefits for employers in terms of reduced turnover costs and increased skills retention and continuity of employment."

Employers would be required to take all applications seriously and deal with them quickly. They will only be allowed to refuse a request on the basis they are unable to reorganise work among other staff, can't recruit more staff to fill in, or if the change will negatively impact on performance or quality. They can also refuse if there is insufficient work to do at the times the employee wants to work. Disputes can be taken to binding arbitration or even on to the Employment Court.

The Council of Trade Unions says a more logical solution would be to attract and retain skilled New Zealanders, and this could be achieved by simply paying them more. Secretary Carol Beaumont points out the things that could attract skilled migrants to New Zealand are the same things that would keep New Zealanders here, or bring them back. Beaumont blames the seepage of workers overseas on a decade of low pay and lack of investment in training. Australians, on average, earn 25% more than New Zealanders and Beaumont says this is because New Zealand legislation "knocked the guts" out of unions during the 1990s. The result was that pay rates stagnated and working conditions like overtime and penal rates eroded. Beaumont: "Let's not open the floodgates of immigration until we've strengthened the stopbanks by paying people already here more fairly."

Source — National Business Review, 22 April 2005 "Fair wages can solve NZ's skill shortage" by Carol Beaumont

Minister of Immigration Paul Swain says the changes better align student immigration policy with government's international education strategy, as well as making sure New Zealand remains competitive in the global market for students. The changes will be monitored by the Department of Labour to see that working international students don't displace local workers but Swain says both Student Job Search and the Ministry of Social Development confirm that to date there is no evidence of local worker displacement. He says if the indicators suggest that there is a risk of this, or if there is evidence of abuse, the policies will be reviewed.

Source — Media release New Zealand Government Paul Swain, 19 April 2005, "Changes to international student policy"; media release NZ Federation of Ethnic Councils, 21 April 2005, "Work permits — international students"

Australian Labour Party opposition criticises the move saying the government is seeking to cover for its own failed planning for skill shortages. Spokesperson MP Bob Carr says the government should have been supporting the training of young Australians five years ago to meet the needs of the economy. Carr believes the increase in migrant numbers will do little for the regions, where skills shortages are acute, because the bulk of new arrivals stay in Sydney.

Source — Sydney Morning Herald 15 April 2005, "Howard slashes Medicare, increase migrant quota" by Louise Dodson.

Treasurer Peter Costello says he intends to get out the stick and "ask" welfare beneficiaries who are able to work to find a job. Costello's focus is on sole parents whose youngest child is at school and people on disabilities benefits who are capable of working part-time. He would like to see work tests applied to more beneficiaries. The Australian government estimates there are 150,000 sole parents on benefits with no children at home during the day and Costello says these people ought be finding part-time work. Costello: "There are people who are not working because people have never asked them to."

But would they able to get jobs? And if they do, would working reward them? Melbourne Age economics reporter Tim Colebatch says the reality of tax abatement rates and reduced welfare benefits means many low-skilled people have little incentive to move off the security of low-paid benefits into the insecure world of a low-paid, unprotected jobs that are common in the Australian economy.

Source — The Age, April 6 2005 "Big tax cuts or social inclusion?" by Tim Colebatch.

The report says it is seems reasonable to predict that economic and labour market policies aimed at narrowing the income distribution will reduce socioeconomic inequalities in mortality.

The report also shows that suicide rates are three times higher among people on low-income compared to those on high-income people.

— Decades of Disparity II, Socioeconomic mortality trends in New Zealand, 1981_1999, March 2005, published in by the Ministry of Health, ISBN 0-478-25751-1, can be downloaded (MSWord 27pg, 4Mb) here

Source — Decades of Disparity II, Dominion Post, 21 April 2005, "Death rate gap for rich and poor gets bigger" by Kelly Andrew

Popular courses such as guitar for beginners, acting, concrete garden sculpture, wine tasting or calligraphy appear unlikely to meet the criteria or retain their subsidies. And without subsidies, such courses will be too expensive for most people and are unlikely to continue to be offered.

Thompson is pessimistic about the proposed changes: "Learning outcomes will need to be documented to fit into neat, tidy boxes that the TEC can tick off, although we know that community-based adult learning does not fit into tidy boxes. We are in no doubt that by 2006 in some regions adult learning will disappear from schools altogether and the TEC has admitted they expect this to be the case."

Source — Weekend Herald 16 April 2005 "Night class tradition under threat" by Stuart Dye; Dominion Post, 14 April 2005, "Night classes for 'wealthy' in funding plans" by Michelle Quirke.

The report contains "a stark warning" for the entire world: the wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged.

In effect, the human species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so species on the planet, and to itself. The report: "Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted."

The Millennium Assessment authors point out that directly or indirectly, ecosystem problems affect us all. They affect our health, our security, our capacity to plan for the future and even our freedom. Protecting natural areas and conserving resources is not a luxury of the rich. With six billion people now on this planet, conservation is essential to maintain and enhance humanity's quality of life. This is especially true for those living in the developing world where people rely most directly on ecosystem services for survival.

The Millennium Ecosytem Assessment 2005 reports that : — everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystem services to provide the conditions for a decent, healthy, and secure life — humans have made unprecedented changes to ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, fibre and energy — these changes have helped to improve the lives of billions, but at the same time they weakened nature's ability to deliver other key services such as purication of air and water, protection from disasters, and the provision of medicines — among the outstanding problems are the dire state of many of the world's fish stocks; the intense vulnerability of the 2 billion people living in dry regions to the loss of ecosystem services, including water supply, and the growing threat to ecosystems from climate change and nutrient pollution — human activities have taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of species extinctions, further threatening our own well-being — the loss of services derived from ecosystems is a significant barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty, hunger, and disease — pressures on ecosystems will increase globally in coming decades unless human attitudes and actions change — measures to conserve natural resources are more likely to succeed if local communities are given ownership of them, share the benefits, and are involved in decisions — even today's technology and knowledge can reduce considerably the human impact on ecosystems. They are unlikely to be deployed fully, however, until ecosystem services cease to be perceived as free and limitless, and their full value is taken into account — better protection of natural assets will require coordinated efforts across all sections of governments, businesses, and international institutions. The productivity of ecosystems depends on policy choices on investment, trade, subsidy, taxation, and regulation, among others.