international development in the Netherlands titled: The Next Minister: Development Cooperation with the Cabinet, 1965 – 19? Politics In 1996 Melkert was elected into the House of Representatives. In the early years, he was the party's spokesperson on foreign affairs, development cooperation and environmental affairs. After the 1989 elections he took the post of financial spokesperson of the PvdA, becoming the party's primary spokesperson in the debates on the national budget. Between 1990 and 1994 he was vice-chairman of the parliament's committee on finance. As an MP, Melkert also participated in several boards of civil society organisations. He was a member of the board of advisers of the Foundation for Communication on Development Cooperation, chairman of the Foundation for Development Cooperation Almere-Port Sudan, and vice-chairman of the Atlantic Committee. Also, he wrote a column in the region newspaper, De Gooi- en Eemlander, that covered Hilversum and the Almere region. In 1994 Melkert became the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the first cabinet of prime minister, Wim Kok. He held responsibility for one of its main goals, which, in the words of those who shaped the cabinet was: Employment, Employment, Employment. As minister, Melkert was known for his work ethic. Each Friday he would fill a postman's cart, which he had bought specifically for that purpose, with dossiers. Upon his return to work the following Monday all the dossiers would have been read. His work ethic was also noticeable in the vast amount of policies and laws he initiated during his tenure as minister. In 1995 he initiated a plan to employ 40.000 long-term unemployed. They would be offered a so-called, Melkert-job, mostly in the public sector e.g. tram conductor, high school janitor etc. These jobs were subsidised by the national government. In 1995 Melkert also published a note, The Other Side of the Netherlands, in which he proposed several plans to combat silent poverty and social exclusion. This led to the 1997 law: Prevention and Combat of Poverty and Social Exclusion. It changed the social security and the old age pension laws, giving municipalities more ways of offering special social benefits to the poorest citizens. In the same year he also wrote the note, Flexibility and Certainty, in which proposals for a more flexible labour market were made. In 1997, in collaboration with Frank de Grave, the VVD (Liberal) state secretary of social affairs, he published the note,