Reclassifying beneficiaries under the new legislation will do nothing to create jobs says Caritas Aotearoa in the sumbission it made to Parliament’s social services committee on Wednesday
Research and advocacy co-ordinator Lisa Beech said what the legislation was attempting to do had parallels with the poor houses of Britain in the 19th century.
Beech said Caritas had no confidence that its views would be heard.
“In 25 years of making submissions, I have never felt more disillusioned and discouraged about participating in the select committee process.”
“The role of the select committee is not simply to rubber-stamp the decisions of the Cabinet … or to provide some kind of legal proof-reading of minor details.”
Statistics New Zealand’s latest household labour force numbers, published earlier this month show people out of work rose to 7.3% in the September quarter.
Labour leader David Shearer and other opposition MPs, say prime minister John Key’s legacy is leaving the highest jobless rate since Jenny Shipley’s National government in the late 1990s.
Source
- Radio New Zealand
- NBR
- Image: The Daily Post
