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Speaker 1: Right, we have numbers for you. Tens of thousands of

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Speaker 1: jobs seeking beneficiaries have ended up in work. New numbers

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Speaker 1: from the Social Development Minister suggest thirty three thousand have

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Speaker 1: canceled their benefits in the five months to December, yes, canceled,

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Speaker 1: and for those not pulling their weight, the government's up

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Speaker 1: to benefit sanctions by one hundred and twenty six percent.

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Speaker 1: This all despite the state of the job market at

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Speaker 1: the moment. Christine Rankin is the former WINS boss.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning Ryan.

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Speaker 1: So thirty three thousand beneficiaries back into work. That's got

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Speaker 1: to be a good thing.

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Speaker 2: How fantastic is that? And doesn't it show you when

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Speaker 2: there is an incentive. You know, at the moment your

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Speaker 2: economy is considered really bad and there are no jobs

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Speaker 2: out there, but thirty three thousand people in six months

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Speaker 2: have gone back to work. How good is that?

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Speaker 1: Problem is like, you look at the numbers for December

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Speaker 1: for job seeker two hundred and thirteen thousand versus one

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Speaker 1: hundred and ninety thousand for the December prior to that.

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Speaker 1: It's an increase of about twelve percent. You've got to

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Speaker 1: have jobs for people to go.

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Speaker 2: To, yes, you do, but Look, they focused on young

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Speaker 2: people and the reality is benefit can feel very safe

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Speaker 2: when you go on it. It's hardly anything, but it's regular.

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Speaker 2: You don't have to do anything for it. Really. Look,

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Speaker 2: there is no doubt that, of course there are other

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Speaker 2: people on there, but young people cannot be left to

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Speaker 2: get into that habit. So in terms of that, it's

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Speaker 2: an absolute win. And if they keep those expectations in

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Speaker 2: the system and that the Department's done very well, The

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Speaker 2: Minister's done very well and people have heeded the call.

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Speaker 2: But certainly no one's going to sit on the benefit

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Speaker 2: now thinking that they're just going to be able to

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Speaker 2: do that as they have before. Some of them, I

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Speaker 2: think are taking their own action before the department does

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Speaker 2: anything to them at all.

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Speaker 1: Further change is coming this year. You'll only get the

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Speaker 1: job seekert for six months and then you'll have to reapply.

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Speaker 1: Is that an annoying thing to do? A significant thing

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Speaker 1: to have to do?

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Speaker 2: Well? It doesn't really matter if it's an or not.

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Speaker 2: I mean, this benefit is designed to help you get

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Speaker 2: through a really tough time. It is not to pay

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Speaker 2: you for the rest of your life in style. So

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Speaker 2: the fact that there are more checks and balances in

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Speaker 2: the system. Is really really good for the recipients letting

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Speaker 2: them rot on a benefit, as I always say, because

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Speaker 2: that's what happens. Nobody takes any interest, there are no expectations.

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Speaker 2: And this is the first government in a long time

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Speaker 2: that have had the courage to do this. I cannot

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Speaker 2: believe how quickly or how well it's worked. And yes

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Speaker 2: there are a lot of people still on benefit, but

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Speaker 2: you watch this space, it's not going to change. There

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Speaker 2: are jobs out there. In my town, there are employees

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Speaker 2: employers who cannot get suitable people to work.

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Speaker 1: Who are these employers? What sort of jobs are you

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Speaker 1: talking about?

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Speaker 2: I live in a town where are tourism topal, where

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Speaker 2: tourism is key, and so there are a lot of

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Speaker 2: retail jobs and a lot of tourism jobs. But the

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Speaker 2: reality is their first step jobs, and a lot of

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Speaker 2: the people on benefit are going into those base jobs.

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Speaker 2: There are some that are more complicated than that, but

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Speaker 2: a lot of them are first line jobs, and they

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Speaker 2: can't get appropriate people to turn up every day.

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Speaker 1: That's the problem is turning up, turning up and turning

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Speaker 1: up consistently.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and people get out of the good habits of

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Speaker 2: work when they've been on benefit for a short period

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Speaker 2: of time, and if they ever had any confidence, Ryan,

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Speaker 2: they lose it. So you've got to act quickly and

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Speaker 2: that's why the system is very positive for job seekers, very.

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Speaker 1: Positive, Christine Rankin, thank you very much for your time.

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Speaker 1: That's the former WINS boss Christine Rankin and topel for us.

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Speaker 1: For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to

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Speaker 1: news talks they'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio.