Nothing is really different today because of the Taskforce process. I know that sounds very negative, because I know we are also putting people into work. But when the Taskforce was first mooted, we were very positive that something might come out of it, that this group will help us get on with our job to get people back into work through all the ways that we do it. But at the end of the day, I can't say there's any real initiative in there.

From our point of view there's one or two things there that may be of interest, such as the suggestion that NZES contract out some of their services, but we'll be very interested to see where and what and when they do that. There's alot of strategy there for young people, Maori and Pacific Island people, but from the mature employment point of view - most disappointing.

I would like to see the government really do what the Taskforce recommended to do. It seems to me that it will take a change of government to actually do something positive.

There is nothing that has changed overall. Even this Youth Action package is having no impact. It sounds good. It makes bureaucrats and politicians feel comfortable, but where is the impact on the street ?

The amount of paper that was produced in the Taskforce exercise was extraordinary. It would be interesting to work out what the whole process cost in the voluntary sector contributions and cost out the voluntary hours which were absolutely enormous, cost out what it actually cost to run the Taskforce, and the cost of the officials, the analysts, and the Minister's times in working this through over the eighteen months... and then compare this with the outputs that have been produced.

They have done this sort of thing to the Maori community year in and year out since 1984, and what happens is that everybody gets hyped up and puts alot of energy and commitment into some go-forward ideas - but what happens to all those ?

We had the belief that we were going to be active participants in active change. Now that's been a big dupe-ing. That's why we don't put any energy into these things anymore. We're putting a lot more into actual political change which you will start to see quite dramatically in the next 3-6 years in Maoridom. Once we're disciplined enough to take a piece of the action, then we'll go for it.

I feel its good that they have agreed to the proposals - I thought they were good proposals - but I'm disappointed that there wasn't really any plans for action there. The report is endorsing improving co-ordination and local responsiveness. But it is just saying `shoulds' when I want to ask `how' now. And I am still left feeling : Where to from here ?

We are a bit disappointed about the time that it all took. I think it took far too long. I believe that people have lost their enthusiasm for what the Taskforce was set up to do. I don't think the community is finding any credence in it.

I do think that too often we can all be negative about what's out there without finding a better way of using it. I feel that some of the programmes that the government already has in place, like Taskforce Green, they could well be utilised more by employers to assist people to do training. We try and work very hard with what is there to use ... we ask how can we make it work to the best advantage of our community.

The government has got some things that are right. Unemployment is trending down in some areas, but it is in the areas of skilled people and not the unskilled. and I think that there has to be a lot of emphasis on training employers as to how they can best benefit from taking on people to train them for skills. Government can do a lot to help there.

All the reports that were produced had been very heartening. They were looking at a global view - the whole overall picture. For someone who is working in the area, I found the Taskforce process and the report very positive. People were really saying sensible things, and they really were trying to grapple with a complex and difficult problem - nobody said it would be easy. They all appreciated the complexity of the whole thing. And they were saying we have to shift our ideas and values about employment.

So the process itself was good, but I'm disappointed at what has come out of it at the end. I think it's all been watered down quite considerably, and it's not strong enough in its commitment. It isn't clear to me that there really is a commitment to full employment or to people more fully participating in their communities.

The multi-party statement doesn't say anything specific about real local programme delivery and that's a concern for us. We are concerned about our ability to deliver things locally rather than adapting a national scheme to a local context. We want real local control. It's a disappointment that there hasn't been agreement reached on the need for local programmes and the need for a local delivery mechanism. We would have hoped that the parties could have advanced it further by working out how that local delivery mechanism could work.

The idea of commissioners was one idea on how to do this. It may not be the best idea, and it was a way that may not be the same for every area, but we could look at it and maybe improve on it. We were also keen on the Local Action Group Idea - where there could be a group of all the main players involved which would take action on the ideas, and have the authority and funds to do that.

It is disappointing that there doesn't seem to be any strategic focus in the multi-party agreement. That's what makes it different from what the Taskforce put out. The Taskforce proposals represented a strategy - you can't just take this bit and fix a part of it, without looking at the whole. This is fundamental, otherwise you are just fixing and fiddling with bits of the problem here and there. If you have a commitment to full employment, then you put in place strategies to start that rolling ... and that's what the Taskforce report did. All these things have to be plugged in together, and then we will achieve our goals.

It doesn't seem to me as though it is going to be delivered like that. It seems that too much is being left to the government of the day to interpret. And once you do that, you're part of the political process again, aren't you ?

We put in fairly extensive submissions to the Taskforce, and we think that in some indirect way a few of our suggestions have been incorporated into their recommendations. We ensured that we attended all the meetings possible around the country with our respective managers, and so there was good input as well as a national submission that co-ordinated all our responses.

All this money has been spent, and this group has gone around the country and they have put a good amount of work into their 120 recommendations ... and then very little seems to be taken aboard. Or if it is being taken aboard ... the public is being left in the dark on what they're prepared to do about it. There's not much commitment to put more money into this area.