Alliance Party says need for old solutions to combat new unemployment crisis

Alliance Party Media Release - For Immediate Release - Monday, 9 February, 2009

"It's official, we have an unemployment problem," says Kay Murray Co-Leader of the Alliance Party, in response to the findings of the Household Labour Force Survey for the December 2008 quarter.

The survey shows that there are now 10,000 more people unemployed than there were in September 2008. This figure is widely predicted to continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

Ms Murray worries that the Government's strategy of pouring money into developing new infrastructure, while it may boost the construction industry in Auckland and Wellington, is not going to provide enough jobs, or the variety of jobs needed, to impact on the ever growing unemployment lines. She feels that more innovative solutions are required to provide jobs that match the wide range of skills and experience of those unlucky enough to find themselves unemployed as a result of the current economic crisis, wherever they live.

"The Alliance proposes that the Government take a serious look at a subsidised employment programme similar to the Temporary Employment and Project Employment Programmes run during the late 70's and early 80's. In these programmes the Government paid salaries, at the award rate, to non profit organizations, local bodies and government departments to take on unemployed workers, in addition to their normal workforce, for up to a year's salary to perform special projects or additional tasks."

The party believes that the benefits of such programmes would be enormous for the organizations concerned, but also to the community as well. "For example schools might employ extra teacher aides to make resources, city councils might employ people to work on recycling projects, create playgrounds, community gardens or local markets and research institutes and universities might employ extra research assistants," says Ms Murray.

The party is not talking about depression era relief work, or latter day employment task forces, which have the unemployed working for the dole, or only slightly more. The type of programme she envisages offers a real wage for doing a real job.

"The Alliance believes that it is extremely important that, if public money is to be spent on promoting employment, it is spent on meaningful programmes everyone will benefit from, which are available to everyone who might need them. The trickle down theory must be abandoned once and for all," said Ms Murray.

ENDS

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