Tauranga electorate chairman for ACT, Ron Scott, says the introduction of the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill is a big step forward for youth in the Bay of Plenty.
The Bill was drawn on Tuesday to be debated in Parliament and Ron says its purpose is to restore differing levels of minimum wages for youth workers in order to deal with the growing problem of youth unemployment.

Tauranga electorate chairman for ACT Ron Scott.

If passed into law the Bill will allow employers to hire 16 and 17 year olds at a lower rate than their more experienced counterparts.
'From the date of the abolition of youth rates in 2008 and the December 2009 quarter, almost 20,000 young people have lost their jobs. At this point, the unemployment rate amongst minority groups is particularly high, including a rate of 38.7 percent amongst Maori youth,” says Ron.
'The youth unemployment rate was 26.7 per cent at the end of the December quarter 2009 compared with less than 18 per cent a year earlier.
'That represents 13,000 young people condemned to unemployment. For comparison total unemployment is 7.3 per cent.”