Speech to Parliament on the Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill, Wednesday, April 21 2010.

By admitting today that it will not support my Minimum Wage (Mitigating Youth Unemployment) Bill, the National Government has confirmed two things – that it doesn’t care one bit about youth unemployme

23 February 2010

Open Letter To Union Representatives And All Those Opposed To The Reintroduction Of Youth Wage Rates.

Re: Youth Unemployment

If the Government is ‘always willing to listen to good ideas’ over youth unemployment, as Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said yesterday, then I expect the Government to support my Minimum Wage (Mitigating Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill and put a stop to soaring youth unemployment rates, ACT New Zealand MP Sir Roger Douglas said today.

Unionist Matt McCarton’s article in the Herald on Sunday (31-01-2010) supporting an increase in the minimum wage to $15, while rubbishing the Government’s decision to increase it by only 25c, is economic lunacy.

Yesterday we saw that youth unemployment had spiked during this recession, but that its movement may have been affected by the abolition of youth rates. This analysis was backed up by Eric Crampton.

It's very rich of Labour's Annette King to blame National for the high rate of unemployment for young New Zealanders when it is, in fact, Labour's abolition of youth rates that has caused this problem, ACT Finance Spokesman Sir Roger Douglas said today.

National's decision to increase the minimum wage will cause unemployment among those that are least able to deal with the consequences, ACT Finance Spokesman Sir Roger Douglas said today.

ACT Leader Rodney Hide said today he was very disappointed that the National Party has announced they are sticking with Labour's Employment Relations Act.

Address to Quigg Partners – Employment Seminar Election Special; The Bayleys Building, 28 Brandon St, Wellington; Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 5pm.