Leader of the ACT Party /u/Fresh3001 today visited Murupara in the south east Bay of Plenty region, a small town with a population of just under 2,000. He met with the town’s mayor, local community leaders, businesspeople and regular townsfolk in a square by the Anglican Church.

“Welcome all, thanks for coming along. It’s great to be back in Murupara - you’ve got a wonderful little town and such a great community. As the Member of Parliament for the Bay of Plenty, one of the greatest concerns I have is around our rate of unemployment. 6.1% of adults able and willing to work in the Bay of Plenty region cannot find a job, and I think that’s absolutely terrible. New Zealand has working class people struggling to put food on the table because they or their partner can’t find a job, and the government’s job-killing minimum wage increases are just making things worse. New Zealand also has a record high number of 18 to 21 year olds that are not in education, employment, or training - and ACT has a solution.

“It’s our policy to introduce legislation which would allow for a separate wage to be set for 16 and 17 year olds, and I think it’ll have some real impact. Reducing the cost of employing the young and inexperienced will offset the costs that employers must pay to train them, and it would incentivise youth employment in general. When you’ve got early school leavers or students trying to work a job but struggling to do so, it’s clear that there’s an issue. This policy would mean that 16 and 17 year olds who leave school can break into the labour force and get themselves some steady employment before becoming an adult and receiving the full wage. It would incentivise students to work part time and bring some money in to support themselves, and it would help struggling rural businesses too. Small firms which could benefit from more employees but can’t afford another minimum wage worker at that moment would be able to hire a youth wage worker. I also know that Murupara has a slight problem with gang membership - getting teenagers into employment early, or simply out of unemployment, will definitely reduce the amount of young kids joining gangs. Overall, I think it's a policy which will really help small towns with high youth unemployment and issues with gangs.”