Government wants to reduce jobseeker beneficiaries by 50k, but forecasts are up 11k
Social Development Minister Louise Upston revealed new forecasts for the number of people likely to be on the jobseeker benefit – the new figures show jobseeker numbers will peak at 214,000 in January 2025.
If this forecast turns out to be correct, it will mean the Government has overseen about 24,000 additional people going on to a jobseeker benefit, despite a Government target to reduce the number of jobseekers by 50,000 – although the Government has set itself a deadline of 2030, meaning it could still potentially hit it.
Upston told the Herald that jobseeker numbers “have long been forecast to get worse before they get better, and we knew this when we set our target to reduce the number of people on Jobseeker Support by 50,000 over six years.
“We inherited an economy in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis from Labour and rising unemployment is one of the lingering after-effects. Turning this around won’t be easy, but we are ambitious,” she said.
This Government have come after the disabled, state tenants, renters, workers, Māori and the environment.
They’ve already come after the beneficiaries with threats to cut 50 000, but the reality of economic carnage out there has seen more on the benefit!
That shouldn’t be a bad thing, there will be more who need help, but the Government’s target is a political stunt to bash beneficiaries and the Social Investment mode will demand deeply punitive tactics to meet those targets.
National see any public spending now as wrong because they need to find the money for the borrowed tax cuts and the $2.9billion
We have taken from the disabled, from beneficiaries, from Māori, from worker, from renters and the environment while manufacturing a crisis in public health – we have done all of this to give the richest tax cuts!
What the fuck have we become New Zealand?
At some stage, Kiwis need to take a long had look at themselves for the far right climate denying racist beneficiary bashing Disabled abusing Government they elected!
Remember, NZ elected this Far Right, Climate Denying, Racist, Beneficiary Bashing, Disabled Abusing Government because a bitter post-Covid electorate hated Jacinda for having the temerity to save 20 000 lives during a once in a century pandemic.
We have allowed our petty bigotries, our wilful ignorance and our blind rage to be manipulated by the Hard Right to implement policy that benefits them, not us.
This is who we are now.
This is what we have mutated into.
Weep dear Kiwi. Weep.
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The CoC will spend money like anything when it comes to accommodating the expected 10000 extra prisoners at an annual cost of about $1500,000,000. That’s an awful lot of zeros. Since the CoC loves dredging up policies that historically failed like bootcamps, perhaps they could contract out lifers to a lower cost penal facility in China or Indochina at a fraction of the price, or just turn Stewart Island into a penal colony like Aussie was, and ship them there.
The CoC has already been caught cooking the books to meet its self declared targets with gang numbers, by getting the police to magically reduce the gang tally by 1000. The CoC just announced a reduction in crime in central Auckland, while crime figures for the whole country are soaring.
And expect the targets for surgery wait lists to magically be met, by reinstating the policy of putting those needing surgery onto the waiting list to get onto the waiting list, by having patients onto active review, and amazingly the CoC target will be met yet again.
The CoC wants to reduce beneficiary numbers, but as well as going into jobs, how many will end up in prison or leaving NZ in record numbers. Expect targets given to MSD, to cause beneficiaries to be kicked off payments for the most minor infringements. Put yourself into the shoes of someone in a small town recently laid off from a pulp mill, expected to apply for jobs through MSD, but when they look at Seek.co.nz there are only a handful of vacancies at their location, while MSD case managers circle them like savanah vultures with a finger poised over the sanction button.
Surely MBIE can come to an arrangement with the official assignee, to take over the operations of large factories that employ hundreds but go into receivership, and keep them going for the greater good of the community. Get Mr fast track onto it, if he’s not to busy watching his nature videos.
Compared to the previous administration who wanted to help society, aka saving the boomers from covid, the current CoC austerity is a race to the bottom. Just hope that you don’t lose your job, or get evicted from a rental, or need surgery, or become disabled, or better yet be a rich landlord, and the CoC will bend over backwards to help you out. A wet dream for Bob the First, but a bad dream for the real battlers.
To the machiavellian CoC, you are just a KPI.
This will in a sense create more jobs.
More security staff at WINZ offices which is the only place left for beneficiaries to make face to face contact with the people who now control their lives.
More Corrections staff to deal with all the extra people in jail (where they will receive food, shelter and health care denied to them on the outside).
Just trying to be positive here.
Good to see you trying to be positive Stevie.
However if you don’t want to pay repair bills spend some money on prevention.
Usually a lot cheaper and far less stressful.
I have a family member working in corrections who has been told as of friday we are cutting our full time equivalent hours to save cost .Also we are cutting a rehab program because it is aimed at the 80% of inmates that are brown .
Luxton “These friken beneficiaries are costing this country a lot of money”.
Labour were voted out because people felt let down. They achieved little to boast about after 3 years with no one holding them back from being a true socialistic party . Jacinda was too timid to make big changes and then bailed early rather than bear the ignominy of losing at the ballot box.
Now we have a right wing party doing what right wing parties do as they respect the wishes of those that put them into power.
So all up to Winston again eh
Trevor small-minded as so often. Don’t attempt to realise Jacinda’s mind – it operates on a higher level with more considerations than you will have in your life.
Back in the sixties when NZ was still paying off it debt from being in someone elses war we were building roads ,schools,hospitals ,hydro dams ,power lines,houses and all the stuff we need today .The big difference then was the high earners were paying their fair share of tax with the top rate being 60% and the bottom earners paying nothing including small business that were earning less than 32k in todays money .Now we see the exact opposite with the low earners expected to pay for exactly the same needs .Just google NZ tax in 1960 and you should come across two stories by none other than the ferret Paul Goldsmith when he worked at treasury .The strange thing is he has clearly forgotten that information and has failed to point it out to his masters
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