The latest labour market figures confirm unemployment has risen to levels not seen since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This Government lacks a plan for creating jobs, its only plan is entrenching poverty for our poorest communities,” says the Green Party’s Social Development spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March.
“Our country has the means to build an economy that works for everyone and leaves nobody behind. We can invest in the public services and infrastructure which support our communities into meaningful jobs and livelihoods.
“The latest stats lay bare the poverty trap this Government is setting for our communities. Cutting thousands of jobs and undermining support for people doing it tough is setting our communities up to fail.
“There are not enough jobs - this is by design. We can’t use austerity to condemn people into deeper poverty due to hard times
“The Government has introduced new benefit sanctions while they push more people into unemployment, knowing full well there aren’t enough jobs for every single person on the benefit, and will never be while it’s in power.
“Where is the workforce planning desperately needed for our country, with its many challenges including the huge infrastructure deficit and meeting the needs of an ageing population? Nowhere to be seen under this coalition for the rich.
“We have a plan for a Future Workforce Agency to strategically upskill New Zealanders and coordinate industrial planning.
“The Greens would end poverty with a Guaranteed Minimum Income, more training opportunities, and restarting public investment in healthcare, schools, and building housing that creates good jobs. Our jobs for nature plan will also be a central plank for providing people with meaningful and stable work.
“The Government needs to boost benefits and abolish sanctions, so that the increasing number of unemployed New Zealanders aren't left to languish in poverty, and aren't punished for struggling to find work in National's barren economy,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.
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