The 259 named localities have stunned many local authority politicians and community groups around the country. And while many Mayors have supported the intentions behind the policies ... there has been widespread concern about the degree of "consultation" that has led to the latest announcements.

— only unemployment (not sickness or DPB) beneficiaries are affected.

— people already living in the "no-go" locations will not have the benefit taken off them but would get extra attention from Work and Income to try get them into jobs.

— unemployed people could still move to "no-go" zones, if they could prove they had work lined up or were able to get to areas where employment was available.

— no concession has been made for Maori wanting to move to where their whanau lived. (Smith: "No matter who you are this policy applies.")

— people with a special reason for going to a "no-go" zone, such as helping a sick relative, may be eligible for a different type of benefit.

— the full list of the "no-go" zones, including how many unemployment beneficiaries live there now.

Green MP Sue Bradford argues that it is not the problems of unemployment in the "no-go" zones that are driving these policy changes. Bradford: "Labour is engaging in beneficiary bashing. It is disgusting that it appears prepared to sacrifice the future of entire communities in a cynical attempt to woo voters away from the equally heartless policies of Don Brash and Katherine Rich..."

CONSULTATION CONTROVERSY

Minister of Social Services and Employment Steve Maharey also told media that "every locality on the list is there as a result of consultation which has taken place over the last three months with people in local areas and that of course is why they support this policy..."

Moore thinks that the whole concept of "Jobs Jolt" has been a negative way of making decisions about employment policy, and says that we need to find more positive ways of looking at the situation. Moore: "This may be a good time for us all to refocus on the bigger picture. Mayors are more interested in jobs and training for young people, and the effect of skill shortages on their regions than about any perceived malingerers. You have to question a policy that focuses on 1% of the problem , when the Mayors have been asking officials to come up with strategies that address the 40% of the unemployed that are under the age of 25."

Turner also feels that the "no-go" policies undermine the positive approach that Mayors are taking to job creation issues, and is concerned about the image of small rural areas, which are beginning to recover from the economic shocks of the 80s and 90s. Turner: "Some Mayors also feel that this policy works against the government's own regional development strategies and could be seen to cast a negative stereotype on people already living in those areas — especially if they are currently unemployed. Mayors have worked stridently to lift the profile of many of these areas and stop population decline."

Lux says there is a shortage of unskilled workers in his region which people in a number of the tagged zones could easily travel to. As long as the plan did not stop people moving to the region to work, he did not have a problem with it. But he doubted many people moved to the area to sit on the dole anyway.

Whakatane District Mayor Colin Hammond, also consulted, says he is happier now it was clear the initiative would not affect people already living there. However, while Whakatane's unemployment rate ( between 8-10%) was high and needed addressing, he believes the approach is negative.

While Dunedin did not contain any of the identified areas, it still has concerns about the policy. General Manager for strategy and development Peter Brown says that people are attracted to a city or region because jobs are available to them, and because the physical attributes of a region appeal or because once they are there they can create their own work and businesses. Brown: " Dunedin has shown that growth can be encouraged and people who were unemployed here are now playing vital roles in our lively and strong city — so we believe it is better to encourage and support people rather than ostracise them..."

VOICES: ON THE NO-GO AREAS cartoon from New Zealand Herald 5 March 2004 — Rod Emmerson " This policy has been misrepresented ... there are no blacklisted areas of the country. I just stress that once again we are trying with this policy to ensure that people get jobs. That is the point of it. We are in a situation in this country where employers are calling out for labour, and in some cases cannot find people to work in their businesses. We are trying to make sure that people are in the right place to get the right job at the right time." — Steve Maharey, Minister of Social Development and Employment " There is a bit of confusion here. This is not about the Mayors Task Force for Jobs. Consultation was undertaken with local councils, regional councils, and other local communities ... The Government has been spending an enormous amount of time and money in making sure that remote locations in rural and provincial New Zealand get the full attention of Work and Income. We have spent substantial sums in training courses and getting people into employment, and that is why unemployment in this country is half what it was when this Government came into office." — Rick Barker, Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment " Where was the evidence to back the policy of a tidal wave of unemployed people moving to places like Becks, Lauder, Patearoa, or 120 of the other no-go zones, which, in October 2003, did not have one single resident registered and drawing the unemployment benefit?" — Katherine Rich, National Party spokesperson on Welfare " This is a poll-driven PR ploy designed to convince the public that Labour is cracking down on welfare dependency. Labour's simplistic view that communities can be isolated and identified as having no jobs, is bureaucratic rubbish. Within a short radius of almost any community, including these "no-go" areas, there is work available be it seasonal, casual, full-time or part-time." — Dr Muriel Newman, ACT party spokesperson on social welfare " Does the Minister accept that these areas, which are perceived by some as no-go areas, would create social classification, and that New Zealanders would become economic refugees in their own country?" — Bill Gudgeon, NZ First spokesperson on Welfare " Inevitably, there will be accusations that the policy will promote nothing but ghost towns. Commendably, however, the Government has stuck to its guns. Its policy is a rational counter to work-shy people who shift to a district knowing full well that no job opportunities exist there. Some Mayors believe that having people of such mindset move to their district is preferable to a static or declining population. Sometimes there may even be superficial advantages, such as when the unemployed have children who prop up school rolls. Some also point to the infrastructural problems of Auckland and suggest that,in fact, people should be encouraged to move to the regions. But such arguments have no merit when shifting to such areas equates to a virtual waste of human resources..." — from editorial in New Zealand Herald 5 March 2004 "The government's announcement of no go areas appears to owe more to political pandering than it does to a genuine attempt to lower the numbers on the unemployment benefit. People will ask themselves whether, in all the abuses that occur in the benefit system, the number of people who will cunningly choose to move to Bennydale, Omarumutu or Inangahua Junction in order to be sure to remain unemployed is really the essential focus of benefit reform ... " — from editorial in The Dominion Post 6 March 2004

Sources — Press Statement Ministry of Social Development 3 March 2004 "NZs Employment Opportunities Continue to Grow"; New Zealand Herald 3 March 2004 "No go zones for unemployed" by NZPA; New Zealand Herald 4 March 2004 "No go job towns jolt councillors" by Ruth Berry; New Zealand Herald 4 March 2004 "Mixed feelings over dole law" by Elizabeth Binning and Mathew Dearnaley; The Dominion Post 4 March 2004 "Finding the unemployed proves to be hard work" by Glen Prentice; The Dominion Post 4 March 2004 "Coming to a no-go zone near you" by Jane Clifton; The Dominion Post 5 March 2004 "No go zones won't do anything to aid jobless" by Fran Tyler; editorial in The Dominion Post 6 March 2004 "It's about attitude, not where you live";NZ City 4 March 2004 " Greens slam no-go scheme";Press Release 3 March 2004 Ministry of Social Development "New Zealand's Employment Opportunities Continue to Grow"; Press Release 3 March 2004 Dunedin City Council "Dunedin City Council a "Must Come Zone"; Press Release 3 March 2004 Employers and Manufacturers Association "Jobs Jolt small, though practical initiative"; Press Release 3 March 2004 NZ First Party "Limited Employment Locations"; Press Release 3 March 2004 Ministry of Social Development "Flexible Fund—Mayors Taskforce"; Press Release 3 March 2004 ACT Party Muriel Newman " Time to Prove Jobs Jolt is for real"; Press Release 3 March 2004 Green Party Sue Bradford "Labour's disgrace: 259 ghost towns"; Press Release 3 March 2004 Green Party Sue Bradford "No truth in no-go consultation claim"; The Press 4 March 2004 "Five No-Go dole areas in Canterbury" by Anna Claridge; NZ City 4 March 2004 "Criticism of anti-work dodger scheme"; NewstalkZB 4 March 2004 Interview with Basil Morrison; New Zealand Herald editorial 5 March 2004 "No-go zones must rise to challenge" ; New Zealand Herald 6-7 March 2004 "Blacklist choices puzzle small towns"; Hansard, Questions in the House of Parliament 3 and 4 March 2004

INCREASED DEMAND FOR WORKERS

— further increases in the Modern Apprenticeships and industry training programmes,

— better partnerships between Work and Income and understaffed industries so we can identify their skills needs and train job seekers to meet them,

— attracting skilled migrants who meet employers' needs,

— improving the information that is available about the labour market so that young people, older workers wanting a career change and those advising them make good choices about the kinds of skills being sought by employers.

Source — Skills in the Labour Market — February 2004, published by the Labour market Policy Group of the Department of Labour 19 February 2004; Government press release, Social Development and Employment Minister Steve Maharey, 26 February, 2004, http://www.beehive.govt.nz/PrintDocument.cfm?DocumentID=19039

WAIKATO TRADES SKILLS SHORTAGE

The number of Modern Apprenticeships has increased nationally, but Tertiary Education Commission Waikato manager Edgar Wilson says that the region should be doing better. Wilson: "The difficulty has been the employers themselves. They want ready-trained people to their specifications and somebody else should pay for it."

Former Wintec agriculture tutor Clive Dalton is not surprised that agriculture is still struggling to get young people. Dalton: "Nothing has changed. There's nothing happening down on the farm. The employment culture still hasn't changed. Bad employers are not a minority."

Source — Waikato Times 27 February 2004 "Critical shortage for key trades in Waikato", by Mary Anne Gill.

PARENTAL LEAVE EXTENDED

Last year the sceme was used by 19,000 people and the extensions to the scheme are expected to benefit a further 3,400 women. The combined cost of the new proposals for a full year is $17.3 million. This adds to the current annual expenditure of $51 million for the scheme.

The changes have not addressed the issue that the scheme continues to exclude those who work for themselves. Employers and Manufacturers Association northern chief Alasdair Thompson says the argument that it is too hard to work out how much that group should get, does not wash. He points out that ACC has no trouble working out how much they should pay in levies.

— Evaluation of the Implementation of Paid Parental Leave, 27 August 2003, prepared for Employment Relations Service, DOL can be downloaded (Word 85 pg, 1.175 mb) from www.ers.dol.govt.nz/parentalleave/evaluation.html

Source — NZ Government press release, "Government extends paid parental leave scheme", parental leave extended; The Dominion Post 9 March 2004 " Paid parental leave being extended to 14 weeks"; NZ City, IRN 9 March 2004 "Employers neutral about parental leave"

SCHOOL CLOSURES HALTED

Source — The Dominion Post 24 February 2004 "Labour awakes — u-turn too late to save many schools" by Michelle Quirke; New Zealand Herald 25 February 2004 "Mallard hints at stay of execution by Helen Tunnah; The Dominion Post 25 February 2004 "Fury over school plans" by Richard Trow; New Zealand Herald 26 February 2004 "Shadbolt drums up council support" by Helen Tunnah.

WINZ BONUSES RACE BASED

Work and Income staff get bonuses based on the race of the jobseekers they place in work. The scheme varies, but in Counties-Manukau, staff get three bonus points for placing a Maori in a job, two points for a Pacific Islander and one for a Pakeha. The points help determine the size of their annual bonus.

Minister of Employment Steve Maharey has defended the scheme by pointing out the huge drop in Maori unemployment. He says the scheme indicates to frontline staff the areas government wanted to target. Maharey says that without a strong emphasis on Maori and other groups — like youth, the mature unemployed and Pacific peoples —staff would focus on putting forward jobseekers who were easy to place. Maharey: "It really is just a commonsense approach if for any reason you have people that are over-represented or difficult to place."

National Party social services spokeswoman Katherine Rich said skin colour should not be an issue for Winz. "If a case manager has Maori and non-Maori clients who are equally disadvantaged, skin colour shouldn't matter, they should do their best for each client to get them back into work."

Source — Sunday Star-Times 7 March 2004 "State pays race bonus" by David Fisher.

AMERICA ASKS: ARE TOO MANY JOBS GOING OVERSEAS?

Time says that the US has found itself in the middle of a structural shift in the economy that no-one quite expected. Time: "Americans ordered a recovery, heavy on jobs, please. What they're getting is a new kind of homeland insecurity powered by the rise of outsourcing, a bland yet ominous piece of business jargon that seems to imply that every call centre, insurance-claims processor, programming department and Wall Street back office is being moved to India, Ireland or some other place half a world away ..."

— The figures: About 2.3 million jobs have vanished in the US since President Bush took office in January 2001. Time projects that 3.3 million more jobs will leave the US by 2015. It further identifies that about 14 million jobs, or 11% of the total jobs in the US, are at risk of being sent abroad.

— The types of jobs most at risk include telephone call centres, computer operators and data entry, business and financial support, paralegal and legal assistants, diagnostic support services, accounting, book-keeping and payroll services.

— The price of labour is the main driving force being the outsourcing. The typical annual salary of a computer programmer in the US is up to $80,000. This compares with a $30-40,000 salary for a similar job in Canada, Ireland or Israel, or about $11,000 for the same job done in India.

Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says that after the factory closings of the 1980s and the emergence of the knowledge economy, many liberals and conservatives alike had reached a consensus that manufacturing jobs could not be saved but the lab-coat jobs would always stay at home. Bernstein: "Now that vision is under siege ... The white-collar middle class is feeling the sting of insecurity that manufacturing workers know so well."

Outsourcing is the logical extension of the evolutionary process that began with contract manufacturing and continued into corporate services. Thanks to technology, more kinds of work can now be spun off into contracts rather than tied to employees. Once a person's labour can be reduced to a contract, it matters little whether the contract is filled in India or Indiana; the only relevant issue is cost.

Former US Secretary of Labour Robert Reich says that the answer is not to stop outsourcing. Reich: "In theory, we all benefit when we can get services more cheaply from abroad. But as a practical matter, there are huge costs of dislocated workers and job insecurity. We do have to get serious about job retraining, lifetime learning, extended unemployment insurance and wage insurance. We may also want to not permit companies to deduct the expense of outsourcing from their income taxes, and use the savings to help workers who lost jobs..."

Source — Time magazine feature 1 March 2004 "Are too many US jobs going overseas?"

New Zealand's success last week at the Oscars (with eleven awards, the Lord of the Rings has been as successful as Ben Hur) was not just down to the leadership of Peter Jackson and the extraordinary talent of kiwi film technical entrepreneurs. The bottom line for New Line Cinema is that the project also looked especially good when you realise that Hollywood can make three films here in NZ for what it costs to produce one similar film at home.

NZ AS AN OUTSOURCING DESTINATION