WAATEA NEWS COLUMN: The cruelty of our benefit sanctions

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
10
463

The number of benefits cut in the September quarter rose 133% to 14,409, mainly due to missed appointments, just think about that for a moment.

14 409 beneficiaries with benefits cut for missing an appointment.

How does that level of cruelty help those people?

How does harassing beneficiaries like this help the economy?

How does it help our community?

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A record nearly 400,000 people are on some form of benefit – almost the same proportion of the population as after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and that is happening as unemployment is rising.

We know that Māori unemployment is 3 times higher than the baseline unemployment rate, we know these sanctions hit Māori hardest and we know the political value of bashing beneficiaries and Māori for the right.

Is this draconian welfare punishment legitimate social policy or a revenge fantasy for reactionary right wing voters?

Taking from hungry desperate people is nothing short of state sanctioned cruelty and the ease with which this Government implements this cruelty should frighten the electorate.

This Government isn’t serving the people, it’s punishing the minority for the entertainment of the majority!

This is gladiatorial culture wars, not Governance.

Meanwhile the most vulnerable amongst us are forced to suffer more than they should just to make National Party voters feel better about their bruised privilege.

 

10 COMMENTS

  1. I am still receiving mail for a MSD client who lived at my address 8 years ago. This despite numerous calls explaining that this address is incorrect. I wonder how many of those missed appointments are because MSD don’t have their shit together. (perhaps they needed those backroom staff after all)
    The comment from Pope Punitivillianous misses the point. Starving the children of someone who misses an appointment while crowing about personal responsibility is obscene.

  2. ‘If beneficiaries want to keep their benefits, maybe they should turn up for appointments.’
    Spoken by someone who never had to deal with MSD.
    Personal experience: Benefit cancelled without warning. Telephone no use. Go to inquire at local office, Nobody knows, must ask Wellington.
    A week later benefit resumes, computer error( bullshit! computers are machines, people make errors).
    Later my neighbour comes to me in panic. Her benefit stopped without explanation. Her English is poor so she asks me to help her talk to MSD.
    Her benefit is stopped because she failed to keep an appointment. Frantically she tells me she knows nothing about an appointment. Turns out MSD never told her she had an appointment.
    I work with a volunteer group and I can tell you about many cases where notices of appointment for the 17th of the month arrive on the 21st or even later. Where MSD ignore reasons for non-attendance, such as medical reasons, childcare, study.
    MSD is staffed by unfortunates who cannot get jobs anywhere else and there is a high turnover of frontline staff as soon as they can get less stressful work somewhere else. Government Public service cuts have worsened the situation by reducing MSD staff and placing a greater workload on those staffers who actually have to work with the public.
    Kiss my ring Pope! Now tell us how a celibate cleric lectures people about divorce, birth control and sexuality while supporting pedophiles.

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