Work, train or no dole—Nats

Press, 20 July 1987, Page 1

Work, train or no dole—Nats

By

BRENDON BURNS

and PA/

The National Party yesterday released an ambitious employment policy that it said would offer all unemployed people either a job or training from 1989. People would have to work or be acquiring skills or be cut off from the dole. All school-leavers would have an entitlement from 1989 to three years of tertiary education or training. Assistance payments are expected to be considerably less than the unemployment benefit. Those who refuse to acquire skills or work will not receive a benefit. National’s spokesman on employment, Mr Bill Birch, said in announcing the policy in Wellington yesterday that he believed the three-year training or tertiary education entitlement would be a great success. Funding would come from the $1 billion now spent on unemployment benefits and employment and training schemes, and an increased education budget, he said. The Minister of Employment, Mr Goff, said yesterday that National’s promises would increase hugely the cost of dealing with unemployment without solv-

ing the problem. Their cost could easily treble spending in that area. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, said , a Government had to do more about unemployment, than pay. a benefit Apart' from the-training entitlement the policy would see Project Employment Programmetype community work schemes reintroduced. If not in training, people would be required to work on these, or they would get no assistance from the’State. Pay rates would be between those paid to people in training and ruling award rates.' The Government’s policy of abolishing P.E.P. and other job schemes was said to be compounding social problems in high unemployment areas. National’s employment policy foresees local body, community and welfare groups administering work schemes on a contract basis. It would expand from 200 to 1000 the number of people entering the Armed Forces on shortterm volunteer courses. Mr Birch said these enormously increased motivation and self-confidence among young people. The main thrust of the policy, was, however, the provision of training entitlement for schoolleavers, he said. This would provide a guaran-

tee of support to school-leavers during training from the start of the 1989 academic year. It would take until then to get a system in place to cope with those leaving school, said Mr Birch. The Government’s Access scheme was said to be flawed because it was providing training to only 17,000 people. National’s policy would substantially redirect those seeking training into technical institutes, universities, teachers’ colleges, apprenticeship courses, accredited workplaces or community training programmes. Mr Birch said such' policies were urgently needed if New Zealand was to avoid secondgeneration unemployment and any further loss bf the work ethic. The Regional Employment Access Councils established by the Government would have a continuing but reduced role once the training entitlement was established. This entitlement would vary according to the cost of the course of study or training chosen. An Education Commission would set the levels for entitlement. It would include a bursary component for income support with opportunities for Education Commission scholarships and employer-industry contributions.

In line with National s education policy, those seeking education dr training beyond the threeyear entitlement would have ac-’ cess to interest-free, loans. .-. Mr Bolger said National’s wide-ranging policy would help reduce crime. “High unemployment means high crime rates,” he said. The policy includes the previously announced regional development suspensory loans of up to $20,000 for new ■ jobs created in prescribed areas. This will be mainly funded by capitalising unemployment benefits. Mr Goff said that National had exhumed two failed promises as the central focus of its hew promises. “The Regional Development Suspensory Loan Scheme, which National has promised on a more lavish scale than ever before, was scrapped by Sir Robert Muldoon in 1982 because he said it was expensive and a waste of money,” Mr Goff said. P.E.P. had failed to provide people with the skills they needed to find permanent, unsubsidised work, and had also displaced “real jobs.” Mr Bolger said a National Government would not be so stupid as to allow employers to get away with sacking existing workers to take on new workers carrying suspensory loans.