The National Party will release some of its promised welfare reform programme today, and Prime Minister John Key says it will ensure people can move off welfare with the necessary support.
Parts of the announcement were mistakenly sent to a media organisation yesterday - including plans to spend $130 million with a goal of getting 46,000 people off welfare and into work, securing savings of $1 billion.
Mr Key would not elaborate on the details of the policy in advance of its release but said only part of the full welfare announcement would be made today and it would not be draconian. He said the reforms would take time to work - there were currently about 328,000 on benefits.
National has already announced plans for a `payment card' for teenage beneficiaries which will allow them to use their allowances only on staples such as food.
"We are taking a sensible response to welfare reform. We are not being unrealistic, we are asking people to move into work if they can but we know we need to make sure we impart the skills into them.''
Mr Key was asked about the reforms during the first head to head debate against Labour leader Phil Goff. Mr Goff said numbers on the benefit had gone up by 60,000 since National came into power.
"Jobs have disappeared.''
Mr Key said a strong economy had helped keep benefit numbers down until the global economic downturn in 2008 "and that's why we are focussed on growing the economy.''
In the debate, the two leaders sparred about the economy. Mr Goff said Labour had shown it was ready to make tough decisions that were needed, such as the capital gains tax, making superannuation compulsory and gradually raising the age of retirement to 67.
However, Mr Key said Labour's policies would add $17 billion to the country's debt and take longer to pay off. He said Labour policies such as increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and raising the employer superannuation contribution to seven percent would only force businesses to cut staff and keep wage increases low. Mr Goff said the current minimum wage was not enough to live on.
Afterward he said he was confident in Labour's policies and believed the public accepted that significant changes had to happen.
- Claire Trevett of The New Zealand Herald