Act backs expansion of community wage

WELLINGTON - Act wants an expanded community work scheme that would involve every person registered as unemployed.

"Our objective is to have a situation where nobody gets a dole cheque without having to do something," party leader Richard Prebble said yesterday.

Act had been advised that of 163,000 unemployed, only 9300 were in community work projects.

While the community wage was bureaucratic, 30 per cent of those on the scheme had gone on to get real jobs, Mr Prebble said.

"As most of those on the scheme are long-term unemployed or people who have never worked, this is a real success."

Mr Prebble said Act wanted the private sector to suggest ways of employing people who were on the community wage.

All registered unemployed would go on Act's scheme, although the rules would be different for those recently unemployed. Requirements on the newly unemployed would include things they should be doing anyway, such as preparing a CV and fronting up for job interviews.

Since October 1 last year, beneficiaries have been ordered into part-time work of up to 20 hours a week or job training. People unemployed for more than a year have been targeted first under the scheme.

The unemployed should not wait a year before getting a Government "hand up," Mr Prebble said in announcing his party's welfare-to-work policy at the Rangatira Trust, a community taskforce scheme in Otara "Judging by the success of the community wage scheme, a fully funded welfare-to-work scheme that involved community-based providers together with Act's proposals to create new jobs could lower the number of people registered as unemployed by a third within three years."

Act welfare spokeswoman Muriel Newman said the human cost of unemployment was crippling and failure to tackle it was costing taxpayers $30 million a week. - NZPA