Prime Minister John Key has laid another policy challenge at the feet of the Opposition parties, one the Left will struggle to counter.
Already, the policy has been labelled "New Zealand's version of food stamps", but the policy outlined by Mr Key in his keynote address to the 75th National Party conference will resonate with vast tracts of middle New Zealand.
It will be hard to argue against changes to the way young people aged between 16 and 18 receive their financial assistance.
The Government says it intends to fundamentally change how it works with young people.
For young people who are not in education, training or employment, the Government will fund organisations to support them into education and training programmes to keep them there.
The Privacy and Education Acts will be amended so that most at-risk people can be identified and contacted.
Among the changes to the benefits for young people will be a managed system of payments and budgeting advice.
Some essential costs, such as rent and power, will be paid directly on the young person's behalf.
Money for basic living costs, such as food and groceries, will be loaded on to a payment card that can only be used to buy certain types of goods and cannot be used to buy things like alcohol or cigarettes.
And those young people receiving this financial assistance will receive intense case management and support.
There are details to work through. As Green co-leader Metiria Turei points out, without fundamental changes at Work and Income, it will be difficult to achieve the results Mr Key is expecting. Currently, young people had to explain their circumstances to a different case manager every time they went to Work and Income.
It is a mystery to many how Work and Income operates. The Government will need to be much firmer in its direction to staff.
Mrs Turei also worried about the way teen parents would be put into education and training and whether the needs of the child, such as breast-feeding and maternal bonding, would be damaged.
She and Labour youth affairs spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern both said the policies would do little unless accompanied by "meaningful" job creation policies and training opportunities.
Mr Key outlined the changes to training he anticipated would happen.
Job creation is best left to the private sector. Bloated public sectors around the world have helped create massive government spending blowouts, followed by countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy, requiring bailouts from fellow eurozone members.
Helping at-risk young people to avoid a life on welfare will be a vote winner for National. Labour will struggle to counter the training and budget advice measures.
There only attack can be why has the policy not been introduced sooner?
The Left, in general, needs to acknowledge there is still major global financial volatility. Make-work schemes are not the answer. Having a sound platform for companies to grow and take on extra staff is the way to create jobs.
