Four jobs from $50mscheme

The Government has been accused of working at a glacial pace on fixing Maori unemployment as an ongoing $50 million training scheme has created just four new Maori jobs in eightmonths.

The Maori Trades and Training Fund is a contestable, grant-based initiative from the Covid-19 response and recovery package in Budget 2020.

Proposals must be by-maori and for Maori, aiming to upskill participants and provide ‘‘meaningful opportunities into employment’’. The proposals should be able to get up and running quickly to respond to the impact of Covid-19.

So far, $11.4m has been committed to approved projects with $1.8m paid out.

Written questions from National’s employment spokeswoman, Louise Upston, to Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni revealed four people have been assisted into paid employment since June.

Sepuloni said in her written response that ‘‘outcome data’’ was limited as most projects were still in the establishment stage.

In a written response to Stuff, she said the fund sat alongside a suite of other programmes to support Maori into ‘‘employment, education or training’’. These included Mana in Mahi and He Poutama Rangatahi.

‘‘We’ve had 2500 placements through Mana in Mahi and He Poutama Rangatahi has supported over 2000 rangatahi into employment, education or training.’’

Sepuloni said she was confident the Government was making steady progress across all its programmes.

‘‘While there has been a gradual increase of Maori exiting main benefits and going into work, I acknowledge that there is still work to do.’’

Upston, however, said the Government was moving too slowly on Maori employment.

Maori made up 40 per cent of workready recipients of the Jobseeker benefit, but recommendations for a Maori employment action plan, part of a strategy launched in 2019, would not be completed till the end of July, she said. It was unclear when the plan might actually be implemented.

‘‘It’s strange this wasn’t a priority.

They could have had the Maori employment action plan implemented by now if it was a priority.’’

The Government might point to its other Maori employment initiatives but those – such as the trades and training fund – were on a ‘‘go slow’’ too, Upston said.

The fact the Government recognised Maori suffered disproportionately more job losses recently made its ‘‘indolence in taking action’’ even worse, she said.

Sepuloni said she hoped to ‘‘finalise our response’’ to the recommendations on the Maori employment action plan by the end of the year.

‘‘We’re continuing to ensure Maori are prioritised as part of our Government’s economic recovery and rebuild.’’

The Government won power last year with its largest ever Maori caucus of 15 MPS, including five Cabinet Ministers. The Maori caucus within Labour meets regularly as a bloc of MPS within the party.

‘‘We’re continuing to ensure Ma¯ori are prioritised as part of our Government’s economic recovery and rebuild.’’

Carmel Sepuloni Employment Minister