NZ election 2023 live: ACT announces welfare policy, targets drug addicts and mentally ill
The ACT Party has released its welfare policy today, which calls for benefits to be taken off people who can’t work due to drug addiction or mental illness and aren’t seeking support.
ACT are slipping in the Polls, so they do what the Right does best – bash the dirty filthy bennies!
Targeting drug addicts and the mentally ill is so on brand for ACTs petty fascism, what the play is privatisation of welfare.
Private welfare companies will be brought in to take contracts and they get bonuses from either transitioning the mentally ill and drug addicts into work or cut them off welfare altogether for breaking some bullshit rule they invent.
This is welfare privatisation using drug addicts and the mentally ill as the punching bag.
Once established they will come after solo parents, the unemployed and the disabled with the same cruelty.
This is where we are in the election cycle right now, beating up on drug addicts and the mentally ill.
This isn’t a welfare policy, it’s a fucking right wing revenge fantasy!
David looked very sheepish on Q+A on Sunday morning as Jack grilled him over how much money ACT would get going after beneficiary welfare fraud when it cost $50m to investigate and only resulted in $2.5m back.
Jack compared this to the $7billion in Tax fraud and the pittance in welfare fraud and it was obvious the focus on the poorest instead of the richest was nothing more than political spite on behalf of ACT.
Similarly, ACTs call to destroy the Human Rights Commission…
HRC – A Useless Organisation Proposing Another Useless Organisation
“The Human Rights Commission is nothing but a Wellington managerial-class quango desperately trying and failing to justify the funding it receives from taxpayers. It’s time for it be abolished,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“One of New Zealand’s most serious problems has been met with one of New Zealand’s most serious wastes of money.
“Today they released a report, following a two-year inquiry, where their key finding is that housing is a human right and their solution is to create another useless organisation to act as a ‘watchdog’, and integrate te tiriti o waitangi into policymaking.
“There’s not a single recommendation that would, you know, make it easier to build more houses. Which is the fundamental issue here. ACT on the other hand has a detailed GST-sharing policy that funds councils to provide infrastructure, and will cut red tape around building.
“Time and time again, Paul Hunt and the hapless Commission have proven they have no clue. They trot out tired left-wing platitudes and talking points and barely even try to dress them up as something resembling genuine policy work.
“They fundamentally misunderstand human rights. A human right is only meaningful if someone fulfils a duty to furnish that right.
“A human right to housing is meaningless unless someone fulfils the duty of providing you with housing. The Commission couldn’t tell the difference between a hammer and a nail.
“If it was as easy as the Commission makes it out to be, ACT would simply say “it should be a human right to not experience a cost of living crisis” or “it should be a human right to not have to dodge hundreds of potholes on the highway” or “it should be a human right to not have to put up with a Labour Government until the election in 100 days.”
“It is shameless that they have spent two years on the taxpayer dime ‘investigating’ this issue and still can’t come up with a single solution. A group of fifth form economics students could come up with better in a few periods, that would cost taxpayers a lot less and the students might even learn something.
“The Commission is at best irrelevant and at worst dangerous. It has become a highly-politicised, left-wing organisation, and when it comes to actually helping people with human rights, it doesn’t help at all.
“ACT sees no purpose for it and would abolish it completely.”
…Look, I’m not saying ACT are fascist, but amputating Pacific, Ethnic, Māori, Women’s and Youth political voices ALONGSIDE the Human Rights Commission make their shirts a shade of Sepia doesn’t it?
A light chocolate? A bark?
Sepia, chocolate or Bark, whatever the shade of shirt colour, it is a brown though right?
Not over the top fascism, that takes too much effort and we are far too laid back a culture for goose stepping, but we enjoy a casual fascism in NZ.
A gun centric, public service mutilating free market level basic bitch bigotry we are talking about here right?
Amputating the political voices of Māori, Women, Youth, Pacific and Ethnic Kiwis ON TOP of killing off the Human Rights Commission ON TOP OF ankle bracelets on 11 year olds ON TOP OF allowing the gun nuts to abolish the gun registry ON TOP OF billions into prisons ON TOP OF vast cuts to welfare ON TOP OF sacking thousands of public servants ON TOP OF vast tax cuts to the rich ON TOP OF a referendum to redefine the Treaty and force it upon Māoridom which will spark a civil war ON TOP OF bashing drug addicts, the mentally ill and beneficiaries.
These are extreme policies which will cause enormous social dislocation and a level of civil disobedience that will make the Parliament Lawn protests look calm and rational.
ACT are drunk on their own sense of power and are promising ever more radical change which they intend to implement, no matter how many riots it inspires.
They are wide eyes acolytes who are believers and I don’t think the vast majority actually understand their policy platform and how dangerous it will be to implement.
You’ve all seen how useless Luxon is, there’s no way he’s going to be able to stop someone as smart as David Seymour getting everything he wants in a post election negotiation.
We will get 100% ACT policy with no filters.
The country needs to understand what that looks like before they vote.
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This is the rich going after the poor.
A declaration of war.
lmao
Forget it, ACT is going to govern.
You’re too late now.
Rat in a cage and Seymour are just one car accident away from being on an invalids benefit albeit I doubt either are old enough to drive.
We did warn you.
But you kept putting the boot in.
Buhahahaha keep the jokes coming lol. The fascist act/rat supporter pushing the victim card on the poor and vulnerable
That rat from the sewer talking shit as usual.
Eloquence as usual from MHK the bard of the TDB.
I’m pleased for you Bob, given your life must be such a bore that you need to critique my post.
Do you actually have anything intelligent to say, ever?
It’s you losers complaining about the bitter hard harvest you’re about reap. Too bad, how sad.
Poor ratty, at least Bob’s got your back but be mindful of where Bob puts his hands!
@ rat.
You’re an idiot, but worse, you’re not funny either. You’re like that annoying little thing in ones shoe. You’re not bad enough to warrant stopping and taking the shoe off to get you out but yet there you are, being annoying yet witless and un funny. You’re like a Smithers without a punch line looking for a Mr Burns to rub up against. It’s a bit like you both need the friction. Weird.
seymour’s quest is to keep a lid on roger douglas’s crimes of neo-liberalism which is really just another term for Ponzi, as in scheme.
“You’re like that annoying little thing in ones shoe.”
Rat in a cage is meant to be that, annoying enough to get a reaction, but not too offensive to get censored. Keep up the good work CB, this blog needs you.
Seymour is Roger the Rat’s God Son and the Love Child of Dick Prebble and Ruthless Ruth.
Oh, and is politics supposed to be funny? And while I’ll admit many Labour MPs are a joke, I’m certainly not trying to be funny.
Luxon is a political novice, has trouble in interviews and can’t think on his feet quickly.
But when the doors are shut and the adults are talking and Luxon is sitting in the big chair with the agenda in his hand it will be a different story. The executive office and the Boardroom are his territory.
Act and Seymour could be in for a surprise come negotiation time.
At least Luxton and Seymour are going to bite the bullets and get tough on Crime sorting the Gangs Out. Liabour’s Soft on Crime Policy is definitely working well with the amount of armed robberies going on in Auckland, meanwhile the Police are wringing their hands wondering what to do about it ???
What on earth gives you that idea? In fact what are you basing any confidence on National being any other than full of it. The party that talks a big game but doesn’t actually fund things.
Luxon isn’t a political novice at all. He’s just fucking bent. I mean, how hard can it be to be honest and clear and direct, after all? Being a politician isn’t something that requires special skills and talents like juggling or tight rope walking. All you have to do, when being a politician, is to do the fucking job you’re paid by us to do. Be on our fucking side! Be sincere. Be measured and clear. Be open and kind. Be inclusive and patient but perhaps most importantly of all, begin with those most at risk and trickle up. Fuck the rich. They’re already rich. They don’t need to fucking worry about anything unless, of course, they should worry about being found out. I.e. Question: “How did those cunts get that rich? I mean those billions and millions… just how did they get ’em? By working tirelessly at the supermarket? By banking all your spare money from Hooking and/or Dealing? By boot strap pulling and can-do attituding? ” ?
AO/NZ has far too many hardships and far too many rich fucks with billions and millions for comfort.
What you reckon Baldy Locks? You should fucking know because that’s why those of us without off-shore shell companies or are GST registered to suck it back pay you to fucking know.
Winston of Winston First will have both of them Dancing on Hot Coals.
Taking benefits off people who can’t work due to drug addiction or mental illness will result in a number of them turning to crime. Creating further victims and costing taxpayers more chasing them down and locking them up.
Yes that is exactly what will happen although Rimmer has a solution for that, more and bigger prisons. He’ll be safe though, still living at home with his mother.
Yes, more prisons (costing taxpayers a fortune) seems to be ACT’s thing.
The question is, who benefits from that form of policy and taxpayer expenditure?
Once we put the new shower blocks in, we’ll be able to reduce prison populations by 30% easily.
I was glad Jack brought up how tax fraudsters are prosecuted under a different law than beneficiaries and Tax fraudsters tend to get lighter sentences the same with pedophiles in our country.
Seemore showed in this interview how much of a hypocrite he really is as he was not interested in tax fraud even though its fraud on a much bigger scale. His divide and conquer politics will be difficult I can’t see Tainui giving up their co-governance role of the Waikato awa.
I’m not entering a debate about the rights and wrongs of how we treat our addicts and sickness beneficiaries but before you take a position why don’t you engage directly with any GP you know well enough to ask and ask them if they believe all their patients on sickness benefits are really entitled to be there.
You may well be surprised with the answer.
I wouldn’t ask some GPs what time of day it was ( and not because they don’t know what an appointment time actually is) let alone their feedback on who should be working or not. Do I assume those beneficiaries must have had some medical opinion to become one or does it not work like that?
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ACT.
David gets up for work and fills his kettle to prepare his morning tea. The water is clean because some green party member fought for water quality.
With his first swig he takes his daily medicine. His medicine is safe to take because some stupid Labor MP fought for the right for them to be safe.
In his morning shower , David reaches for the shampoo. His bottle is labeled because some crybaby fought for the right to know what he was putting on his body and what it contained.
David dresses and walks outside and takes a deep breath because some Greenie fought for better air quality.
Joe drives to work in a safe car because some do gooders fought for safety standards.
David begins his workday. He has a good job with excellent pay, paternity leave, sick leave and holidays as well as employment rights because some union layabouts fought and died for these rights whilst Labour has continuously improved them in Government.
David injures himself at work and receives free medical care and ACC because the Lefties fought for the right for basic human dignity whilst Labor again has continuously invested in the health system.
David gets home and relaxes by listening to ACT and National on TV who reminds him Labor is dangerous and out of touch. He never mentions Act and National has continuously fought against the rights he enjoyed throughout his day.
David agrees. “We don’t need those big government Socialists ruining our lives! after all, I’m a self made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves like I did”
David is a tosser.
Did David Seymour ever have a proper job, I don’t think so.
Yes as a govt ministry of justice prosecutor.
That is the only job he has ever had.
Doubt whether he could even cook good Fish & Chips ???
May get a job as a Ballet Dancer or as a Celebrity on Dancing with the Stars ???
Business man want more unemployed. Politician man want hurt unemployed. Beat chest, hurt poor sick man.
The fact is if people are scrounging on the benefit the taxpayer should not be supporting them.
There is a loss to the economy from benefit fraud not just through the benefit, but also through loss of productivity, use of the health system, use of various other public services.
Everyone should look at themselves themselves; how much am I contributing to the economy. Have I done enough to upskill myself, educate myself to make a contribution to the economy that at least outweighs all the advantages of living in a first world country, the infrastructure, the health system, etc?
I would guess that communication studies majors have a net zero effect, while say, engineers and doctors have a positive effect. That is communication studies majors take more from the pot than they put in, plumbers, builders, engineers and doctors put more into the pot.
I don’t know the owner of this blog put beneficiaries and the mentally ill in the same category as drug addicts. The former group are largely not responsible for their misfortune it can be assumed, whereas drug addicts are basically criminals.
Becoming a drug addict is not a voluntary choice, rather a vast amount of addicts have had pre existing mental health issues untreated.
This is not a failure of the addicted and mentally ill but rather a failure of successive Governments to adequately invest in mental health and drug rehabilitation. Instead of victim blaming how about we hold accountable places like Dilworth who swept sexual abuse under the carpet for decades.
How any victims has that created for the taxpayer to pick up the bill?
Does anyone seriously believe a addict/alcoholic or mentally unwell person is going to look back on their life without wishing things were different?
Every. Fucking. Election. The right kicks the downtrodden, and Every. Fucking. Election. The right strips funding from the disabled community. My daughter deserves better.
Completely agree that we should look after the disabled.
But drug addicts are often weak minded and lack discipline.
What I don’t understand is why we allow immigrants to come here with opium addictions and then we have to pay for their methadone.
Opium addiction….that was caused by the British lol, and ruthlessly solved by the communists. Methadone is pay back for opium lol
At least Luxton and Seymour are going to bite the bullets and get tough on Crime sorting the Gangs Out. Liabour’s Soft on Crime Policy is definitely working well with the amount of armed robberies going on in Auckland, meanwhile the Police are wringing their hands wondering what to do about it ???
typical nz rightwingers, search the world for a concept that has failed elsewhere then copy it.
a party bereft of ideas but good on throwing red meat to the hard of thinking
Like a firearms registry?
Oh wait, that was Labour.
How many hundreds of millions wasted so far?
And are we safer?
Like fuck we are!
Guns from here to Africa out on the streets here in NZ.
Maybe we need some enforcement for criminals?
The Royal Families of NZ, did particularly well with the State Asset Privatizations in NZ in the 1980’s whereby they purchased State Assets for a pittance and then Privatised them and sold them back to the NZ Public and Institutional Investors. Roger the Rat was knighted for his efforts in Privatizing State Assets for the benefit of the NZ Royal Families.
“Seymour Butt has he ever had a real job ?”
Doubt whether he could even cook good Fish & Chips ???
He may be able to get a job as a Ballet Dancer or as a Celebrity on Dancing with the Stars ???