Weston Kirton: Ruapehu District Mayor talks benefit numbers increasing, impact on the regions

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

More targeted support is on the way for beneficiaries on the jobseeker benefit, but questions have been raised about punishing people who don't move for jobs.

Job losses have been a big problem in regional New Zealand this year, with two big mills closing in the Ruapehu District costing over 200 people their jobs.

Mayor Weston Kirton told Ryan Bridge there simply aren't any regional jobs around.

"We've got only a limited number of opportunities in our district. We do have one or two businesses that, on a seasonal basis, take people and we traditionally have a high unemployment rate in our area anyway," he said.

"To have 230 jobs taken away from us has a huge impact on our economy".

An additional 8000 people went on jobseeker support in the last three months, bringing the total to over 200,000 which is pushing the government's target of bringing that down to fewer than 50,000 by 2030.

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