2. SUE BRADFORD (Green) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
Does he stand by his statement that “The Labour-led Government stands for social inclusion. We stand for policies that are supportive, not punitive … We believe in everyone having a ‘fair go’—that’s the New Zealand way.”?
Is the Minister confident that a “fair go” was given to a woman with two children under 3 living in a Housing New Zealand house with holes under the floor, whose power had been disconnected because she could not pay the bills, and who was told that she was ineligible for a grant for firewood because her children were not yet sick?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
I have not had that case drawn to my attention. If the member would like to pass me the details I would be delighted to have it investigated.
Georgina BeyerHon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
The Government has taken many steps to make New Zealand a more socially inclusive country, including the Working for Families tax relief; increases in family support for those on benefits; increases in minimum wage rates; the roll-out of the primary health organisations; 20 hours of free early childhood education for 3 and 4-year-olds; Modern Apprenticeships; improved case management support for sole parents receiving benefits; the introduction, of course, of income-related rents; lower medical fees; the reduction in unemployment; the abolition of interest on student loans; and, among other things, increases in New Zealand superannuation.
Tariana TuriaWhat explanation can the Minister give to the 230,000 New Zealanders who are being excluded from the Working for Families in-work payment and who remain in poverty, as identified by the Child Poverty Action Group and other leading social commentators?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
As the member will be aware, those figures pre-date the introduction of the Working for Families package. She will also be aware that beneficiary families have already received an increase in assistance from that package on an average of $32 per week in the first year. They will get a further increase of $10 per week, per child, in April 2007.
Is the Government giving a “fair go” to those people in Tai Rāwhiti who go off the unemployment benefit to do weather dependent field and pack-house work, and then, if it rains and they cannot work, have to go through a stand-down period before their benefits resume; if so, does he agree that such punitive treatment disincentivises those trying to get work in the first place and also flies in the face of Government reassurances that people doing seasonal work will not be subject to stand-downs?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
In respect of one of the elements of that question, the Hon David Cunliffe and I will be making some announcements in the next couple of days. I tell the member that, clearly, individual cases that she is concerned about I will be happy to investigate if she passes me that information, but that the policies of this Government make no apology for incentivising work.
How can social inclusion be maintained for 1,675 New Zealand workers and their families who stand to lose their jobs while the Government, the major shareholder in Air New Zealand, is outsourcing its work to China and Fiji to get cheap labour?
Does the Minister agree that due to the loss of discretion to grant the special benefit, many people around New Zealand are suffering extreme hardship and that food banks in some parts of the country are almost empty; when will this Government do something to address the impact of the abolition of the special benefit, other than just talking about Working for Families, a programme that fails to assist those New Zealanders in the worst poverty?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
No, I do not agree. I tell the member that when I last had the beneficiary advocates in my office, I invited them to come to me with any particular concerns they had about the change from the special benefit to temporary additional support, and they are yet to do so.
Does the Minister think that cases like the ones I talked about earlier reveal fundamentally inadequate provisions of welfare by this Government, at least in some parts of the country, or that they are demonstrations of systemic failure within his ministry to deliver the proper entitlements to those in need; whichever it is, what action will he take to make sure that the one in five kids growing up in poverty in this country get the fair go he claims he is committed to?
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE Link to this
No, no, and if the member gives me details, I will be happy to investigate particular cases, as I have twice said.