The number of job seekers has increased since Labour came into government, and National's Louise Upston says that shows Labour is failing to address welfare dependency.
Meanwhile, ACT leader David Seymour is calling welfare dependency cruel for the economy and the people, telling Te Ao Maori News, "That's the cruellest and worse thing to do in the long term." He says there should be expectations on people to get a job.
The number of people on the main benefit is up by over 70 thousand since 2017. Upston is calling that a failure for "those who desperately need support, who need to be connected to employment for their wellbeing and that of their whānau.
"Labor is failing them miserably."
Act says there's a culture of welfare dependency
"The real victim is the one consigned to stay home ... we can't afford that financially or humanely," Seymour says.
Labour 'failing Māori'
Te Ao Māori News sought comment from Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni today but she was unavailable,
However, in a statement, she said: "Despite the rhetoric from the opposition, the facts show that there are a smaller proportion of workers on a benefit now than when National was government during the global financial crisis."
But Upston says, "Māori job seekers, for example, represent over a third of the job-seeking numbers. Labour is really failing that group."
Seymour says there needs to be better treatment of people, "The underlying assumption is that those people are so hopeless that they can't go and do any job at all and it's okay to have 100,000 on the dole when there's a major labor shortage. We've got to treat people better than that "
The minister said in her statement: “There are 19,883 fewer people on a main benefit compared to December, with near-record numbers of people moving into work,” Sepuloni said. “The figures also show an annual fall of 4.8 percent in the number of people receiving a main benefit.
'Work harder'
“The government’s quick response to Covid-19 has worked, with initiatives such as the wage subsidy and our economic support packages keeping people in work and delivering record low unemployment.
“Two years into our response to the global pandemic we have continued to defy Treasury forecasts, which predicted 487,500 people on a main benefit in January 2021. This did not happen and there were 348,339 people receiving a main benefit as at March 2022."
More than 127,000 of those on the main benefit are Māori and Upston says their employment is not a priority. "The fact that it has taken over four years for Labour to deliver a Maori employment action plan tells you they don't see Māori in jobs as a priority."
Increased numbers on benefits plus a record high inflation rate aren't easy to deal with and National spokesperson says now is the time to do something about it.
"I'm not for a moment suggesting it is easy. What it does mean is the government's got to work harder to target employment initiatives" Upston says.
Gold medal blame
While the government is saying the figures show a good response to Covid-19, Seymour says it really comes down to government decisions
"If blaming was an Olympic sport Jacinda Ardern would have a closet full of gold medals," he says.
Upston says the impact of welfare dependency on whānau can be intergenerational.
"Children growing up and benefit-dependent homes have worse outcomes than those that don't.
So if we want to interrupt it, if we want to improve the lives of our children, we must put emphasis on a parent being in work" Upston says
Will the government get more people working by next year's election? Time will tell.