DOC and Labour's youth unemployment policy

Another work scheme for unemployed. There been a few over the last 40 year or so. PEP, Task Force Green etc had involvement with all of them They did get some additional work done, , in the tararuas, Atiwhakatu, Gentle Annie - Powell hut, Field track, Mikimiki-kiriwhakapapa and quite a few more. Orgongorongo track proably used this labour Reality is, not many stick at it, and to expect these same type of people to manage ground control of pests using trapping etc, may be expecting bit much These schemes actually put demands on doc rangers time, and there are high servicing costs its not just sending people into the hills with rice, flour, etc and visit them every few months - like the deer culling of the 40s - 60s. 90 percent of the work scheme youth I have experienced, wouldn't last a week in those conditions With much of doc pest control done by aerial 1080, will be interesting to see if they will reduce this so work schemes can do the pest control on the ground. And setting up a ground control operation, only to have it scrapped when a new government get in, will just be a waste of tax payers $$$. (as has happened repeatedly over the years). The issue with doc is, its the recreation Vote that is short of money, not pest control. This is work normally done by skilled (and qualified) doc rangers and/or contractors. There is a fairly extreme Health & safety policy in DOC, as well. very few DOC staff are qualified to use chainsaws, and cant see many work scheme bods getting to this standard having said that, it should see some benefit to doc, but don't expect too much

"Another work scheme for unemployed." That's one of the important considerations. This is an employment programme more than anything else. It's not a Conservation policy. Given Labour justifies it in part by pointing at DOC's underresourcing, though, it makes me wonder what the entire plan is for actually resolving those underresourcing issues and how this supposedly fits in with it.

Ok how about gangs re planting native trees on ex forestry land. So the youth of today are not suited to physical mature work? I know a lot of ex forestry service men started with limited bush experience. Yes it a different day and age. But the people of their time would of been aghast that young tim was heading off to spend time shooting deer. We have to remember there was a huge turn over of forestry service workers as well. Yes we wax lyrical of the good keen man. But the truth is many had very short stints and ran home with tails(spelt right this time) between their legs. My point is. We have huge amounts of rural youth wasting away. Many are fitter and have more survival skills than we give them credit for. Send ten in the bush. Two prevail. Send in eight more. One more prevails. Send in seven more. You get my picture. I am a manager of a plating room for a large ready meal company. I manage people who put food in trays for fresh ready meals. It's a demanding job. In a fridge. With a minimal wage. I have done this job for years. I have trained more people who have come in off the benefit than most of you would ever imagine. They come they go. They can't cut it. But I have a work force now made up of those who are the diamonds of the bunch. Those rare gems who are good hard working people who just needed that break. And our business gave it to them. You need infrastructure and managers like myself who are willing to put the time effort energy and aroha into it to make it work. The same can work with DOC related work. You need the right infrastucture and leadership and it will work. Of course many will come and go. But that's the way it is. But many will tough it out. Learn about themselves and what they have and at the same time. Help our whenua. I'm all for it and I'd been happy to hike between huts to see how these youth are going. I'm more than happy to boost those who have it and kick those who don't back to the bedroom they came from.

To quote one of the paid 'volunteers' we got sent, to plant out natives (Day 3 of 3) (surprised) Were we supposed to take them out of the bags?

given the crap a lot of the youth of today eat and drink, most wouldnt have the stamina to do days of physical work without getting too tired or cramped...

@gaiters. Think you're a bit optimistic with your 2 from ten estimate. Of the 50-or-so people we've been sent from WINZ over the years to trap/poison possums for well above the minimum wage, I can think of only 1 who 'prevailed'. He was a good worker for years until the drugs & booze finally took their toll. Talking to a colleague last week who was in charge of hiring & firing possumers for a NI outfit he reckoned 1 in 50 was as good as he'd experienced for WINZ-compelled workers. 2 in 10 might (MIGHT) turn up on the second week. But not sure that counts as prevailing. @wayno: not sure it's down to diet. Two of the hardest working, fittest, fastest, toughest possumers I've ever met seemed to survive on a daily diet of something like: 2 packet noodles 4 cans of V a couple of tassie bitters and unknown quantity of dope. I certainly never saw anything I'd class as a food pass their lips. Unless you count the Tassie bitters.

Well half full half empty aye. But I must agree some of the fittest hardest work guys I know survive on what I would call shocking diets. But they get up every day and smash it day in day out. It's a mental thing.

depends, it doesnt usually go to well when the diet is almost pure sugar.... they are far better if they eat fattty food than lots of sugar...

true waynowski, but the early European explorers lugged huge amounts of sugar with them when exploring down south. Tea sugar flour tobacco. Staples lol.

and they shot and ate every bird they could along the way...