National Party leader Christopher Luxon is threatening "consequences" and "sanctions" for young unemployed beneficiaries and warns that their "free ride" is over.
Unveiling the new policy at National's annual conference on Sunday, Luxon proposed giving under-25s who have been on the Jobseeker benefit for more than three months a job coach and an individualised plan to help them get back into work. National would also pay $1000 to anyone under 25 years old who stays in work for more than one year after having been on a benefit for at least 12 months.
He said young people "who don't want to work" have had a "free ride" under Labour, but this would end under National.
"If you're a young person and you're trying to find work, I want you to know that there's support coming. We want to be able to have a dedicated jobs coach, a really good assessment of what the barriers are for you to get to work, and then a really individualised job plan. We're here to help connect you to work, and that's really important," Luxon told media in a press conference following his annual conference speech.
"If you're a young person and you don't want to work, I'm sorry, there are consequences for that and there'll be sanctions around that as well.
"As soon as you want to sign up and get on the plan, that's great, but we're here to get you to work, because in the National Party, we believe in rights and responsibilities and it is your responsibility to take the opportunities that have been given to you to actually get yourself into work."
Luxon said help will be given to people "whether you want it or not" and there is a sanctions regime that will be used.
Louise Upston, National's spokesperson for social development and employment, said the sanctions regime that currently exists includes reducing someone's benefit, right through to suspension or cancellation. They would also use money management, where a person's provider looks after payments so that important costs are cared for and any leftover money gets put onto a personal payment card so they can buy groceries at approved stores.
While the payment card applies to those under 20, Upston said National would use it in some cases as a sanction for those aged 18 to 24 who "are not playing their part".
Although Luxon admitted it is complex, given the different lengths people have been on the Jobseeker benefit.
"We just feel like after three months, we've got to be starting to make some interventions and that's why [the policy] captures someone who's been on for longer than three months," he said.
"But obviously, someone who's been on for three months or six months is different than someone who's been on for four or five years, and so there's different levels of complexity or barriers that we have to deal with."
The policy is slightly different for people who are on the Jobseeker benefit and who have a health condition. In this instance, the expectation is they'd be in work within two years.
"For that group, this policy will work really, really well because it's individualised support, a needs assessment for that individual, with a plan and a job coach that supports them," Upston said.
"So some of them might be able to work part-time, and that part-time work is their pathway into employment."
Upston pointed out that National's policy isn't aimed at those on the sole parent benefit, it's at people who receive the Jobseeker benefit.
