Youth Opportunities: Speech to National Conference

The 8th of November 2008. What a night!

With the support of 1,053,398 New Zealanders, we changed the Government and we changed the outlook for New Zealand.

Those voters believed in a better New Zealand. They were tired of being told what they could or could not do, what their kids could have as a Friday treat from the tuck shop, and whether they could choose their own lightbulbs.

They yearned for a more ambitious future.

And with them, you the Party faithful made that change possible. You put up the placards, sold the raffle tickets, knocked on the doors and posted the pamphlets.

Who will forget the stunning wins?

Nine new electorate seats and some great victories.

16 new MPs in our caucus.

Our biggest Party Vote ever.

We did the hard yards and we reaped the rewards.

What a privilege it is to be your Prime Minister.

I am thankful to each and every one of you who brought us here.

Let me express my special thanks to Judy Kirk. Our departing President.

You stuck by the National Party through the rough and the smooth. You built this party the new structure it needed to serve a new generation. You gave us seven great years of presidency, and you led us to our historic victory.

And you did it with grace, with humour, with an unshakeable belief in what we could achieve.

In doing so you helped secure the brighter future this country deserves.

Today we thank you Judy Kirk, forever the Party Vote President.

And we join you in welcoming our new President. The National Party is pleased to have elected you.

I say a special thank you to Bill English. I am grateful to have as our Deputy Prime Minister such a wise, dedicated and compassionate New Zealander.

I say thank you to Steven Joyce. What a stellar campaign you ran.

I say thank you to the rest of our Cabinet, the caucus, the Board members old and new, the electorate chairs, the electorate agents, the office-holders, the volunteers, the members.

It’s good to be in Christchurch isn’t it?

This wonderful city where I spent my school years. Where I lived with my two sisters, and where my Mum raised me with all that she had.

This city where I fell in love with Bronagh.

This great city where I bought my first National Party rosette. Where I went to university. Where I got my first job.

And where I formed my belief that within each of us lies the capacity to make our own lives better.

That with hard work, with personal responsibility, with big dreams, we can all make more of ourselves.

It’s that belief which has always set the National Party apart. We know that Government actions can never replace the determination and drive that lies within each individual. Nor can the Government take the place of our families and our communities.

But a good Government can provide the foundation for greater opportunities.

That’s why the National Party leads New Zealand’s Government today. Because New Zealanders heard our message of opportunity and they voted for it in droves.

They knew that our Party would lead a country which rewards rather than discourages effort.

They knew our Government would not try to involve itself in decisions best made by New Zealanders in their own homes and communities.

They knew we would remain resolutely focused on securing the brighter future this country deserves.

Today let me take a moment to reflect on all that we have achieved in our first nine months in office.

We started by forming a stable, inclusive Government with our confidence and supply partners.

We turned first to our friends in the Act Party. From the moment the election result was known they pledged their support and ever since the relationship has grown and developed.

In Peter Dunne we found a man of honour and integrity.

And with your support and goodwill we traversed a path many in the media believed wasn’t possible and formed an alliance with the Maori Party.

Set against a backdrop of respect and ambition we captured the imagination of Maori and Pakeha alike and forged a relationship with Pita and Tariana. In doing so we broke new ground for our Party and this nation.

We build on our confidence and supply relationships every day. Through everything we achieve together. And through everything we disagree on.

We know that the respect and mana born of these relationships enhances our ability to govern for all New Zealanders. And it ensures that the National Party will be capable of leading a government for many years to come.

I am pleased that we have made so much of the cards voters dealt us. After all, this is a country built on the ideas of partnership and inclusiveness. It is only fitting that those values are reflected in the make-up of our Government.

I am also proud of the new policies our Government has delivered on.

When I travel around New Zealand Kiwis tell me their stories about how much these policies mean for them.

Like the single-mum who thanked me for the Government’s first 100-days decision to publicly fund a 12 month course of Herceptin.

She started 2008 with her life in tatters. She’d been diagnosed with HR2 breast cancer, she’d had a masectomy and 30 lymph notes removed. She was unable to work because of the cancer, and was having to fork out for huge herceptin payments every three weeks.

Thanks to this Government those payments stopped.

Or the mother of a five year old girl with autism. She wrote of the monumental and traumatic campaign she’d had to secure special needs funding for her daughter.

She thanked the National Government for our foresight in boosting special education funding by $51 million, so that many other mums and dads would be spared what she suffered.

Or the woman who wrote in to thank us for the student loan voluntary repayment bonus. She had $20,000 left on her loan and relished the opportunity to pay it off faster so she could get a mortgage and buy a house.

We made a real difference to her life too.

Ladies and gentlemen, thousands of New Zealanders have a good story to tell about this National Government.

Like the one and half million hard-working Kiwis who were made better off by our April 1 tax cuts.

The half a million superannuatants who’ve had their super locked in at 66% of the after-tax wage.

The hundreds of families who have been given a helping hand by the Restart package.

The thousands of people in the Coromandel, and the thousands of Kiwi holiday-goers, who are cheering our decision to fast-track the rebuild of Kopu Bridge.

The parents who, thanks to our National Standards in literacy and numeracy, will get a Plain English report next year telling them exactly how their primary school child is doing.

The 400,000 people of Counties-Manukau who have started to see the first of 300 extra police working their streets.

Not to mention the good citizens of Christchurch who are no doubt looking forward to the Government’s looming ability to crush the cars of boy racers.

And the thousands of families who will feel safer in their homes and in their streets as thanks to our tougher bail and sentencing laws.

Ladies and Gentlemen, these were the policies we campaigned on. Even amidst the fiercest economic storm, we have delivered.

Today we focus on the tasks that lie ahead. There can be no doubt. We have come to office at a difficult time.

The world is in recession and Kiwis are losing their jobs. Our businesses are finding it tough. There are no surpluses left in the Crown accounts.

But we do not shirk from these challenges. Nor do we resile from the ambitions we campaigned on.

A more prosperous economy is at the heart of our vision.
And, yes, we know that strengthening this economy won’t be easy.
But we take this task on gladly, because it will secure the brighter future we wish for all New Zealanders.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is light at the end of the recessionary tunnel. The New Zealand economy is forecast to start growing again later this year. Unemployment will take a bit longer to turn around.

We will be doing all that we can to ensure that our return to growth continues as strongly as possible for as long as possible.

We have an economic plan for achieving this. As Bill outlined yesterday, it consists of six main policy drivers. I want you to go away and remember these six drivers because they are vital to securing a brighter future for New Zealand.

They are:

• Regulatory reform,
• investment in infrastructure,
• better public services,
• education and skills,
• innovation and business assistance,
• and a world-class tax system

The depth of the recession means that we are experiencing high unemployment for the first time in a decade.

The good news is that our unemployment rate shouldn’t get as high as in the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia. But that is small comfort to the everyday Kiwis who may find themselves without a job.

We all feel for those Kiwis. They are our sons and daughters, our brothers, our sisters, our cousins and nephews.

But the task of the Government is not to pretend it can create a job for every Kiwi who loses one. That will require the effort of all New Zealanders.

Our country’s real jobs engine is made up of the smart ideas of our small businesses, the output of our farmers, the rising fortunes of our exporters the strength of our communities and the foresight and competitiveness of our industry.

The Government’s responsibility is to bolster their efforts and to do our bit to ensure that Kiwis who lose their jobs have the opportunities they need to get back into work.

That means creating a business environment which gives firms the confidence they need to invest and to create new jobs.

It means offering an extra helping hand to families hit especially hard by the financial blow of redundancy.

And it means connecting job-seekers with new job opportunities, up-skilling them and keeping them connected to the workforce.

Our Government is doing all of these things. We are backing unemployed Kiwis and we are confident of their future prospects.

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES

But even so, I remain concerned for one particular group of people who may be permanently damaged by the lack of job opportunities over the next few months.

I am concerned for our young people.

Those aged 18-24 are the fastest growing age group on the Unemployment Benefit, representing a third of all those who receive it.

The number of young people who wanted a job but couldn’t get one has more than quadrupled in the past year, leaping from less than 4000 in June 2008 to nearly 17,000 by June this year.

My concern is that for a young person starting out in their working life, a long period of unemployment could be very damaging.

These are New Zealanders who may have very limited experience of the routine and rewards of regular work. Without the opportunity to gain that experience their development, and their aspirations, may be permanently weakened.

Some may be tempted to fill unoccupied hours with petty crime, drinking and drug use, or other activities that sell them way short of their potential.

My fears are backed by the research. Young people are disproportionately affected by long periods spent on the benefit.

We simply can’t afford to leave our young languishing on the benefit. If we do we risk diminishing the potential of an entire generation of New Zealanders. I won’t accept that.

So today I am announcing a Youth Opportunities package that is designed to strengthen the ladder of opportunity for young people during this period of heightened unemployment.

These policies will provide young unemployed Kiwis with an expanded range of opportunities to better themselves, whether through work, training or education.

The Youth Opportunities package reflects my belief that it’s up to individual young people to make the most of the opportunities they face. We owe them a chance and they owe us their best efforts in return.

These policies are also driven by my conviction that all New Zealanders have a stake in the plight of the next generation.

I am yet to visit a Kiwi community, business or family that is not concerned about the prospects of those who will fill our shoes tomorrow.

So these policies draw on that passion. They require the commitment of not just Government but of all those who have a stake in securing a brighter future for New Zealand.

Because we in the National Party know it’s not just Government who can solve our problems.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to be realistic. These policies will not create a job for every young person who finds themselves unemployed over the next 18 months.

But the initiatives I am announcing today will provide a new rung on the ladder. A rung that could fire up a young person’s motivation and aspiration, while increasing their chances of getting and maintaining a job in future.

Let me touch on some of the highlights of the Government’s Youth Opportunities package.

Many of these policies are about encouraging businesses and community groups to make job opportunities available to young people.

We know that while the economy turns itself around, many employers will be reluctant to hire young people who are yet to develop basic work skills.

A small-business owner may have enough work to justify a new entry-level worker, but may lack the will needed to hire and train a young person for the job.

Or a community group may have a great project in mind, but may not have considered using a team of young people to get that project off the ground.

In both cases, good ideas could end up in the too-hard basket for the next couple of years.

Today I am announcing that the Government will provide specific funding to help firms and communities take these ideas out of the too-hard basket, and into the realm of possibility.

Job Ops

The first policy is Job Ops. Job Ops is the Government’s policy for backing businesses that create jobs for young people.

We want young people who have limited work experience to get a chance to prove themselves and to get a taste for what they might be good at.

To make this happen, the Government will ask businesses to provide lowly-skilled young people with a job for a minimum of six months. We will ask businesses to work with these young people to build work skills, foster confidence and, where appropriate, provide them with references for future work.

In recognition of these efforts we will provide funding to the employer. This funding will be spread across two payments totaling $5000 over the six months.

It will be money well-spent. Because I for one would rather invest your taxes in jobs for our young people than in unemployment benefits.

So, all you community-minded business people out there, ask yourself: Are you ready to give back to the young people on whom our future depends? If you are, this policy is for you.

The Government has put aside $20 million in funding for up to 4000 Job Ops over the next eighteen months and I want to see it cranking-up as soon as possible.

We’ll be taking expressions of interest from Monday, so let’s hear them.

Community Max

Of course, businesses aren’t the only ones with a role to play in creating opportunities for young people. Local authorities, mayors, iwi and community groups are also ready to step-up.

So I’m announcing “Community Max”. Community Max is the Government’s policy for connecting young people to the positive work that goes on within our communities.

I know that up and down the country there are community organisations with good development ideas. I’m asking those groups to come to the Government with local community projects that could be worked on by young people.

It might be time to renovate the local marae or kohanga reo. Or to smarten-up local parks and reserves. Or to get rid of graffiti and tagging.

The Government will fund young people to work on these projects. We’ll help fund their training. And we’ll fund supervisors to help.

Because we want our young people helping our communities and we want our communities helping them.

I expect huge demand for Community Max. So the Government has set aside $40.3 million to back this policy until December 2010.

I expect many of these projects will pick-up significant numbers of Maori and Pacific Youth, who are over-represented in the youth unemployment statistics.

Te Puni Kokiri and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs will work with Maori and Pacific organisations to develop project proposals. And I fully expect Tariana Turia, Pita Sharples and Georgina te Heu Heu to get out there and promote this policy to the Maori and Pacific Island communities they serve.

Because I know that they, like me, are impatient to see all our young people fulfilling the true promise of their potential.

The development of the National Cycleway project also provides a great opportunity. Today I am announcing an additional $5.3 million for the cycleway that will be set aside to encourage those developing Great Rides to take on and train young people.

We are also going to put a greater emphasis on youth in our Industry Partnership Programme, with 600 new work and training opportunities.

The young people targeted will get access to industry-specific, on-the-job training and a chance to build a career for themselves.

I imagine that industries supporting the Rugby World Cup could be particularly interested in using this programme to upskill their workers over the next 18 months.

My fellow delegates, for many young people in this recession, work experience and on-the-job training like I’ve outlined will be the leg-up that’s needed.

It will provide them with a proven work record, basic job skills and a sense of the routine, discipline and dignity that comes from paid employment.

After all, those are the values that this Party and this country believes in.

But some young people may be better served by more time spent in more formal education and training.

Put simply, there are currently too many young New Zealanders who aren’t engaged by any of these options. They might be turned off school or feel trapped without the basic skills needed for an apprenticeship or formal education.

We have to do better for these young people. Particularly in light of the forecast rise in unemployment. Because if we fail to keep them engaged in education their chances of finding a job will be lower than ever.

Well, this National Government won’t accept that.

That’s why we are devising new options to make education and training more relevant and accessible for a greater range of young people.

Let me outline some of the ways we will do this.

Youth Guarantee Jump-Start

From January next year we will jump-start Stage One of National’s Youth Guarantee policy.

This policy will help 16 and 17 year-olds who are no longer engaged at school get a second-chance at education.

Stage One will allow up to 2000 16 and 17 year olds to undertake vocational training at a polytechnic, wananga or private training establishment. They will pay no fees for this training.

The Government has allocated a total of $53 million to allocate 2000 places for this purpose in both 2010 and 2011. Because we know that traditional secondary school doesn’t work for everyone, we’re doing something about it.

Students on the Youth Guarantee might, for example, join a mechanical maintenance course, working on cars and completing literacy credits at the same time. Or they might do a pre-trade course that uses workshops and hands-on learning to prepare them for an apprenticeship.

In whatever form it takes, the Youth Guarantee promises to engage young people that may otherwise be left behind by our education system.

Because our National Government believes in them, and we believe in their futures.

New Service Academies

In addition to the Youth Guarantee we are opening up the options in our secondary schools.

Because we know that some kids will get more out of a ripping an engine apart than studying Macbeth.

We are already considering business proposals for Trades Academies, which will give young people the ability to gain practical, hands-on vocational skills while still at school.

I also want to expand the number of Service Academies throughout the country. Service Academies are military-focused programmes based in schools where students may otherwise be less likely to gain a qualification.

The programmes are designed for Year 12 and 13 students who want to pursue a career with the New Zealand Defence Force. They include a minimum requirement that students sit and attain Level One NCEA Maths and English.

I want to see more of this kind of training available for school students. So I am pleased to announce that the Government has set aside $2.6 million in funding for that purpose.

I am confident that the discipline and values this service training provides will make a difference for hundreds of young Kiwis.

Expansion of Limited Service Volunteers

I am also committed to enhancing the education and training opportunities for those aged 18-24.

We have already started working with the New Zealand Defence Force and the New Zealand Police to devise new training opportunities. Ministers are busy developing gap-year options and we will make further announcements about these in future.

But all some young people need is a short burst of this type of training. Just enough to give them the encouragement they need to push on into further education or employment.

That’s how the Limited Service Volunteers Programme works. It runs for six weeks at Burnham Military Camp and uses a military-type training programme to instill self-discipline, confidence and motivation.

It’s got a great track-record, and I want to see more young people being able to take part in it.

So today I’m announcing that from January 2010 the Government will invest $19 million to create an additional LSV programme in Auckland and another in the Lower North Island.

This will allow a total of 2500 additional young people to take part in LSV over 2010 and 2011.

That’s an investment in them and it’s an investment in our future.

Polytechnics and technology institute funding boost

Of course, some of the best vocational education and training for young people is provided by our polytechnics and institutes of technology (ITPs).

The forecast increases in unemployment may well put more pressure on them over the next few months.

The National Government makes no apologies for expecting polytechnics to do more with less during this recession. Even so, we will work with polytechs so that as enrolment pressures build they are able to ensure adequate education opportunities for our young people.

That will require innovation from them, and it may require some flexibility from us.

So today I am demonstrating the Government’s commitment by announcing that later this year the Tertiary Education Commission will allocate $8 million of further funding for polytechs.

We expect this extra funding to be targeted at those with the highest needs, with those under the age of 24 expected to be a particular focus.

This funding is additional to the significant investment we already make in our wananga, polytechnics, private training establishments, industry training organisations, modern apprenticeship co-ordinators and universities, all of whom provide important educational options for our young people.

I am a huge believer in the liberating power of education and our investment priorities reflect that belief.

Summer scholarships

Finally, we expect that the high unemployment rate may well be paired with a reduction in the number of jobs available for tertiary students this summer.

That’s hard on them and it’s hard on their families.

We will respond to this in two ways.

First, by beefing up the number of jobs available through Student Job Search.

We will do this by referring all suitable Work and Income job vacancies to Student Job Search. Work and Income will also work with employers, local councils, mayors, iwi and community groups to identify vacancies for students.

Second, we will put a new Summer Scholarships Scheme into action during the summer break. This was an idea that came out of the Job Summit, and is based on a partnership with New Zealand’s University Vice-Chancellors.

The scheme will provide up to 1600 summer research scholarships worth $5000 each. This scholarship funding will go directly to the university students involved. The Government is putting $4 million towards this initiative, and we are being matched dollar for dollar by the universities.

We think it’s a great example of what’s possible when the Government works with others to develop solutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen. The policies I have announced today are going to make a big difference for our young people.

They will create up to 16,900 additional youth opportunities over the next two years.

The total cost of this package will be $152 million. It’s an investment I’m proud to be making.

Some of this funding was allocated in the 2009 Budget, while the rest will be appropriated from the between-Budget contingency. So I can reassure you, this package will in no way add to the Government’s debt levels.

Conclusion

My fellow delegates, the policies I have announced today will add significant rungs to the ladder of opportunity for our young people.

They send a clear message to all young New Zealanders: This country backs you. We will invest in you and we will invest in your future.

We have big aspirations for you. And we want you to have big aspirations for yourselves.

The manner of your climb is up to you. It may be through work, it may be through education, or it might be out in the community.

We simply ask that you strive to make the very best of yourself.

We will judge you not by where you are today, but by what you have decided to become.

My fellow delegates. Today’s policy announcement is not just about New Zealand’s young people.

Today I am asking all of us to set our sights a little higher.

Each of us has a choice to make. Will we sit back and complain about the increasing numbers of jobless youth? Or will we stand up to do our bit?

What can we do to give our young people the opportunities they deserve?

After all, the future success of our country, the future success of each of us, relies on unlocking the potential of a new generation.

I am proud to lead a Government that is making this a greater country for the next generation to inherit.

I am proud to be leading a Government that believes in the power of individuals to take control of their own lives.

And I am proud to be leading a Government that will give every Kiwi greater opportunities to get ahead.

Those are the aspirations this Party was founded to reflect.

Those are the aspirations this Government was elected to deliver.

And those are the aspirations that I am proud to represent. Thank you.