Maori youth unemployment in Northland is among the highest in the country, with 8.2 per cent of Maori aged between 15 and 25 on the unemployment benefit in the region.
Figures from Work and Income show there are 566 Maori aged between 15 and 24 on the dole in Northland - 66 per cent of the 858 people on the unemployment benefit in that age group in the region.
Nationally, the Maori youth unemployment rate stands at 6.2 per cent, with 17,117 on the benefit across the country aged 15 to 24.
The national youth unemployment rate is 3 per cent, while Northland's overall youth rate stands at 5 per cent.
Unemployment, which has reached 9.8 per cent in Northland, the highest in the country and well ahead of the national average of 6.6 per cent, is likely to be a hot topic at the November election.
But it's already a serious issue among Maori n Northland so we asked the three main candidates in the weekend's Te Tai Tokerau by-election - Mana's Hone Harawira, Labour's Kelvin Davis and the Maori Party's Solomon Tipene - what they would do to arrest the shocking Maori youth unemployment rates if elected to Parliament:
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