Latest news with #Upston
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Getting More Kiwis Into Jobs
Hon Louise Upston Minister for Social Development and Employment Jobseeker beneficiaries will be the focus of the Government's employment programmes over the next three years, says Minister Louise Upston. Minister Upston has welcomed an updated Ministry of Social Development employment investment strategy which runs through to June 2028, describing it as overdue. 'Prioritising beneficiaries into jobs should always be the employment focus for MSD but unfortunately that hasn't always been the case,' Louise Upston says. 'This updated strategy makes it crystal clear MSD needs to be consistently focused on the job seekers already on benefits and getting them sorted first because that's where they can make the most impact. 'I've also instructed MSD that it needs to work in more targeted ways, particularly when it comes to young people. 'That's important because recent forecasts show that people under the age of 25 on Jobseeker Support are estimated to spend an average of 18 or more years on a benefit over their lifetimes - 49 per cent longer than in 2017. 'This is a human tragedy. We need to focus on the potential of one of New Zealand's most powerful assets - our young people - and get them straight into first jobs. 'Frontline MSD staff do work hard in this area, and I know case managers working directly with clients is where MSD can make a real difference. This strategy reinforces that approach. 'Employment case management is important and should also be straightforward and practical. It can include something as simple as helping someone get an up-to-date CV, through to passing a driver licence. 'The Government continues to support MSD's frontline staff - this year, Budget 2025 invested in retaining 490 frontline staff to help deliver vital employment services. 'Preventing young people getting stuck on a benefit will also be vitally important as we go on. Already in this term, we've introduced a new phone-based employment case management service which includes 6,000 18-24-year-old clients, we've got 2,100 more places for young people to get community job coaching, more regular work seminars, and a traffic light system to help them stay on track with their obligations. 'And just in the past weeks, MSD has kicked off a series of regional employment events, bringing together employers, providers and community organisations focused on a common goal – getting people into work. 'I'm also attending those events and hearing first-hand what's needed to support employers, and job seekers. Our Government is determined to get Kiwis into jobs, grow New Zealand businesses, and grow the economy.'
The Spinoff
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
Swears, spending and ‘making shit up': Inside scrutiny week, part one
A whole week dedicated to putting Budget 2025 spending under the microscope means a whole lot of bickering. Welcome to another edition of scrutiny week. Although our government is always supposed to be acting democratically or whatever, this relatively new process gives parliament's select committees the chance to put recent spending in Budget 2025 under a microscope, and really scrutinise where we put billions of dollars every year. The scrutiny job is really on the opposition MPs, who are allowed an arena outside of question time and regular committee hearings to debate with a minister (and ministry officials). For government ministers fronting the scrutiny, it can be an exercise in dancing around questions, playing with patsies from colleagues or casting their minds back to 2017-2023 – perhaps the name 'bickering week' might be a more apt title. There are heated back and forths, the odd revelation, and then the revolving doors of scrutiny spit out another minister. The Spinoff was there to witness at least some of these great moments on Monday and Tuesday. Social development Louise Upston appeared only slightly frazzled as she headed into the social services and community committee on Monday afternoon. She was joined by social housing minister Tama Potaka for the first 15 minutes of the hearing, and Labour MP Kieran McAnulty wasted no time trying to bait Potaka into tying rising homelessness to the government's recent changes to emergency housing gateways. No politician would willingly admit that, so Potaka didn't. Instead, the minister played into semantics. 'If you are talking about rough sleeping, [the census] also observes that the amount of rough sleeping between 2017 and 2023 increased,' Potaka said. Later, Labour MP Ginny Andersen questioned Upston on the rise of people on the jobseeker's benefit, and the minister leaned on a political debate classic: 'That's what we inherited 18 months ago, that's what we are dealing with.' It was a line Upston came back to later, when Andersen pressed her on rising unemployment. 'I accept the conditions that we have inherited,' Upston told her. And again: 'We are dealing with the circumstances that we inherited.' 'Oh, come on,' Labour's Willie Jackson muttered. 'You can't keep blaming us.' Disability support There was one revelation from Upston when she spoke as disabilities minister on Monday afternoon: that the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill – which sought to improve systemic accessibility barriers for the disabled community – has been withdrawn, and that the minister will 'not focus on legislation in this term, but instead focus on practical terms'. These practical terms are the five areas of education, employment, health, housing and justice identified in the New Zealand Disability Strategy, and Upston promised a fully fledged version of that strategy, focused on these pillars, would be launched later this year. Regulation The finance and expenditure committee's Labour reps – Duncan Webb, Deborah Russell and Megan Woods – came into Tuesday morning's session with a bone to pick. Musings on the 'gradual eroding of our pioneering spirit' in regulation minister David Seymour's opening remarks made Russell mutter 'for fuck's sake' and scoff with her colleagues, and the Act leader made sure to end his speech with 'thank you to those who listened politely'. Suggestions from Webb that supposed ties between Seymour and the agriculture sector had impacted the regulatory reviews process led the acting prime minister (that's Seymour while Christopher Luxon is overseas) to claim that he was 'the most urban MP in New Zealand'. 'My main interaction with the dairy industry is with what we call a flat white, and when I go and visit farm animals – it's usually sheep in Cornwall Park.' There was a stumble when Seymour confused Green MP Francisco Hernandez with his colleague Lawrence Xu-Nan ('you're both studious and articulate'). Then on the topic of flour dust standards, after Webb asserted the minister was 'making shit up' by fudging numbers, Seymour had a different perspective: 'Well, I think you could argue that it's something that is not precise.' And on comments from Webb that the Act Party had been working too closely with 'lobby group' The New Zealand Initiative, Seymour replied 'actually, they're a thinktank'. It was a tense morning in Bowen House, but Seymour took it in his stride. 'We're going to make a great video on the behaviour of Labour Party MPs,' he warned, 'and I think people are gonna decide 'we don't want to make them the government next year'.' Te Tari Whakatau It was much more well-mannered in select committee room six, the Māori affairs room. Treaty negotiations minister Paul Goldsmith ummed, mmmed and ahhed his way through questions about job losses and Treaty commitments, but it was Te Tari Whakatau deputy chief executive Tui Marsh who had the most illuminating answer of the morning. When Ginny Andersen asked whether the ministry was finding it 'hard to attract Māori' workers given 'a number of decisions and positions your government is taking', Marsh said there was 'no doubt' that it was a factor. 'The current environment and the mahi itself is challenging, [as well as] being Māori in that mahi [Treaty settlements],' Marsh said. 'There are challenges in the way of thinking, there are challenges in the mahi that you have to do with your people.' On the lighter side, towards the end of the hearing, Goldsmith gave his pitch for a better Northland: 'a decent road, and making progress on the Ngāpuhi settlements'. Racing Racing minister Winston Peters largely discussed greyhound racing in the governance and administration committee on Tuesday afternoon. On the issue of racing infrastructure and rationalisation, Peters lamented the upkeep of some tracks around the country, and suggested that some local racing bodies should fire their boards and replace them with women. Why? Because 'women understand that it's all entertainment, that is the number one objective now', Peters explained. And asked about hurdles in the racing industry, Peters replied: 'they're all in parliament'. Foreign affairs Select committee room five was a crowded house on Tuesday afternoon – a small delegation from the Solomon Islands arrived behind foreign affairs minister Peters. He told newly minted Labour MP Vanushi Walters (who recently returned to parliament after David Parker's departure) that the problem with foreign affairs was that plenty of people had ideas on what should happen, instead of looking at what has happened, after she asked whether Aotearoa might join South Africa in forming a genocide case against Israel. It was a no to Walters, who frowned throughout the hearing, and when Greens MP Steve Abel suggested recognising Palestine could be a 'tool for peace', Peters responded that 'this would be an acceptance of a state of affairs which does not exist'. But, 'it's not my perception that matters'. Asked whether Aotearoa would strengthen its ties with China (as the prime minister is currently there), Peters encouraged the committee to 'think like the Chinese … [some people have] never read Chairman Mao's books, you don't survive all those thousands of years because you're not a clever people. 'The fact that some of us left there 5,000 years ago – or, two in this room, at least [referring to himself and committee member Peeni Henare] – is neither here nor there, although some people called me a commie when I first said that in 1996.'
Otago Daily Times
09-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Govt invests another $13.5 million in tourism
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston. Photo: RNZ The government has announced another multimillion-dollar funding boost for Tourism New Zealand in a bid to attract 72,000 more visitors to our shores. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said $13.5 million in funding would help to target the core markets of Australia, the United States and China over the next few years. "This investment is expected to generate around $300 million in spending, which is a very strong return on investment," she said. "International visitor numbers continue to climb and this boost will help drive further economic growth throughout the entire country." Less than two months ago, she announced a separate $13.5 million boost for Tourism New Zealand to fund marketing in the shorter term, with the aims of attracting an extra 23,000 international visitors by the end of March 2026 and bringing in an additional $100 million. The international visitor levy - which was nearly tripled last year - is covering the costs for both. "We know how important marketing is to attract visitors, with around 14 percent of international holiday visitors directly influenced by Tourism New Zealand's marketing activity," Upston said. "We want people to know New Zealand is open for business and we welcome visitors with open arms." She described the funding as the first investment in the government's Tourism Growth Roadmap, which outlines the initiatives to help the government and industry double the value of tourism exports by 2034. "We know how important marketing is to attract visitors, with around 14 percent of international holiday visitors directly influenced by Tourism New Zealand's marketing activity," Upston said. Last year, Tourism New Zealand unveiled an ambitious strategy to grow tourism by $5 billion by attracting more visitors outside of summer over four years. It aimed to grow international tourism spend by 8.7 percent, or an additional $900 million in the strategy's first year. February marked the largest number of US visitors that New Zealand had recorded in a month. At tourism conference TRENZ last month, Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy said that had been buoyed by airlines opening up new routes, a tailwind of a strong American dollar and focused marketing, and the outlook for US visitors remained really positive.
NZ Herald
09-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Government makes another investment into tourism marketing
The Government is pumping another $13.5 million into international tourism marketing, with the expectation it brings an extra 72,000 visitors to New Zealand. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Tourism Minister Louise Upston are expected to talk to media about the announcement at a 3.30pm press conference at Auckland International Airport. The money is on top of other investments into marketing announced earlier this year. Those were focused on increasing visitors between now and early 2026, while today's announcement is focused on arrivals in the years beyond that. Upston said today's funding – which comes from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) - will be targeted towards core markets like Australia, the United States and China over the coming years. 'We know how important marketing is to attract visitors, with around 14% of international holiday visitors directly influenced by Tourism NZ's marketing activity,' she said. It's expected to deliver an extra 72,000 international visitors to NZ and generate about $300 million in spending, which the minister said was a 'very strong return on investment'. Upston said international visitor numbers continue to climb and this additional investment would help drive economic growth. 'Encouraging more visitors means more people staying in our hotels, eating in our cafés, spending in our shops and visiting our attractions. 'This creates jobs and drives economic growth. We want people to know New Zealand is open for business and we welcome visitors with open arms.' The minister said this is the first investment from the Government's yet-to-be-revealed Tourism Growth Roadmap. She said it will set out a 'series of Government initiatives and investments for the Government and industry to work together to double the value of tourism exports by 2034″. This is in addition to the $13.5 million announced by Upston in April for marketing as well as the 'Everyone Must Go' campaign to get Australians to New Zealand.
Otago Daily Times
01-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Funding boost from govt for 19 southern events
The South has been awarded just under $400,000 to help fund 19 different events, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced last week. The government is driving economic growth in the regions by investing $2.6 million in 152 regional events across New Zealand. Mrs Upston said she was thrilled with the variety of exciting events on offer, encouraging more New Zealanders to enjoy and explore New Zealand beyond the main centres. Events to get money in the South include Warbirds Over Wanaka, which received $50,000, the Steampunk NZ Festival which got $10,000 while $39,750 had been given to the Challenge Wānaka Festival of Triathlon 2026. Challenge Wānaka was under pressure to hold its event this year because of a lack of entries but managed to go ahead. It received a boost earlier this month when the event in February would also double as the New Zealand middle distance triathlon championship, making it an official qualifying event for the 2026 World triathlon multisport championships. Mrs Upston said investing in these events had a direct impact, with visitors spending money in local cafes, businesses and accommodation providers, driving economic activity in communities. "By growing regional tourism, our remote and rural communities can benefit from the economic opportunities it brings,'' she said. Events were excellent drawcards to get more visitors into the regions, particularly in quieter parts of the year. "New Zealand is open for business, and we encourage both Kiwis and international visitors alike to explore and enjoy what New Zealand has to offer." Funding comes from the $5m Regional Events Promotion Fund, which has so far invested in 284 regional events. Funding recipients Clutha $10,000 to The Magnificent Adventure Race Enterprise Dunedin $8643 to 2025 Port Chalmers Seafood Festival $40,000 to 2026 New Zealand Masters Games $10,000 to Emersons Dunedin Marathon $30,000 to The Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival $25,000 to Wild Dunedin — NZ Festival of Nature Great South $16,000 to Burt Munro Challenge 2026 $20,000 to NZ Premier Motorsport Summer Series, Next Gen Round 4 $5000 to Rakiura Rhyme Machine Festival 2025 $22,000 to The Shepherdess Muster 2026 $30,000 to Tussock Country – NZ Country Music Festival 2026 Lake Wanaka Tourism $15,000 to Aspiring Conversations 2026 $39,750 to Challenge Wanaka Festival of Triathlon 2026 $15,000 to Merino Muster Ski Marathon $10,000 to NZ Mountain Film and Book festival $50,000 to Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow Tourism Central Otago $8643 to Alexandra Blossom Festival $14,000 to The 70th New Zealand GrandPrix — round 5 Tourism Waitaki $10,000 to Steampunk NZ Festival — APL
