KEY POINTS:
Twenty years ago, Paula Bennett was a teenage Maori solo mum trying to get off the DPB by waitressing at a truck stop and washing dishes at a retirement home.
Yesterday, Prime Minister-elect John Key chose her as his Minister of Social Development and Employment - giving her
control of welfare policy and a massive $20 billion budget.
The 39-year-old National Party MP was surprised when Mr Key rang her on Sunday with the proposal - a meteoric rise for the second-term MP. She admits she may even have squealed.
Ms Bennett acknowledged Mr Key had put a lot of trust in her "but I'm more than ready for it".
Mr Key told her she had good communication skills "and he believes my head and heart are in the right place".
He had also believed her university degree in social policy and her personal background would be assets.
"There's no doubt it was a big step up for me. As big as the job is - and it is big, whoever is doing it - I have no illusions of what it will take and I will rise to that."
She expects her associate minister, Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia, to be instrumental.
"She and I share a belief that all children are our children. That means the good, the naughty, the broken and the cherished. We've talked about that many times, and I've got no doubt that's the understanding we will bring to the role. She will play a big role. She's got experience and some really firm views on what we need to do for Maori people."
Mr Key said he chose Ms Bennett because he liked to reward people he believed had the skills to do a job. "I'm not afraid to back those people. I don't see it as a risk. I'm happy to back them by giving them opportunities."
Ms Bennett acknowledges times will be tough in her portfolio as the recession bites and jobs become scarcer. A first priority is to set up National's promised redundancies package, giving short-term help to those who lose their jobs.
"There's no doubt we are in for tougher times ahead and I think looking after and helping those most vulnerable will be my first priority."
She will also have to introduce the policy requiring solo parents to work part-time while on the DPB when their children are school-age - a policy she has advocated herself since becoming an MP.
Ms Bennett entered Parliament with an interest in the welfare area after being on the DPB on and off for five years while she raised her daughter Anna. She did menial part-time jobs before going to university to do her social policy degree. It was her experience of welfare that drove her.
"Having been on the receiving end of the DPB and knowing what it was to live from day to day and struggle, there is no way that was the future I wanted for me and my daughter. That's the sort of ambition and goals I want to bring to other DPB women."
Since arriving in Parliament, she has repeatedly spoken of her experience, urging solo parents to work once their children are school-age and advocating that employers make it easier for beneficiaries to get back into work by offering flexible hours.
Ms Bennett's appointment as minister drew a warm but cautious response from those working in the welfare sector.
Tina Reid, executive director of the Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations, said Ms Bennett had worked hard to get to know those who worked in the sector.
"She's a single parent. She's a young face of the National Party. That's exciting. But she's very inexperienced; she will have a lot to learn."
Despite this, Ms Bennett's background will give National's social welfare policies a "softer face" than under Judith Collins, the party's welfare spokeswoman in Opposition and a perceived hard-liner.
