Back Benches 11 April 2012

THIS WEEK ON BACK BENCHES—YOUTH WING SPECIAL: Watch Wallace Chapman, Damian Christie, the Back Benches Panel and special guests discuss the week’s hottest topics!

PAY IT BACK: The kids have been bludging from the taxpayer too long by buggering off to the UK or Oz rather than paying off their school loans, right? True or not, the Government is tackling student debt by making those borrowing more accountable. How? A shorter repayment holiday and the IRD chasing you down. Will this lower the debt? Is the Government being too tough? Is it in the country’s best interest for our youth to get a uni-degree? Do students understand what they’re getting into? And how many are dodging vs. how many are broke?

GETTING THE JOB: Now that you’ve got the student loans, it’s time to get a job. How on earth do you start? Does University prepare you for the work force? What on earth do you do with a BA in History? What are employers looking for? Are there jobs for the Uni-grad? And should we be advising our young what’s in demand?

TIME FOR BABY: How long should new parents stay home with baby? A bill by Labour’s Sue Moroney says 6 months(26 weeks) rather than the current 3.5 months/14 weeks. Is that affordable? Do we need the time for the country to recover financially? Will our country EVER be able to afford extended leave? Or should the leave time be longer? Are there benefits, bigger than financial to consider?

Join us for a night of LIVE pub politics from the Backbencher Pub: Wednesday, 11th of April. Our Panel is representing the Youth Wing of the parties: ACT on Campus Hayden Fitzgerald, Young Greens Wilbur Townsend, Young Labour Glenn Riddell, New Zealand First Youth Curwen Rolinson, and Young Nationals Sean Topham.

Wednesday at 9.05pm and Saturday at 10.05pm | TVNZ 7