After the Government announced a war on women, a new redneck war on the Treaty and gutting public housing, you’d be forgiven for missing the amendments to the Social Security Act where Lousie Upston will crush the life out of beneficiaries with her bare hands…
Anti-poverty Groups Say Amendments To Social Security Act Will Remove Job Seekers’ Human Rights
Anti-poverty groups say that changes proposed in the Social Security Act Amendment Bill currently before Parliament would result in more jobseekers and their dependents unable to buy food, pay rent and other basic bills – and at a time when unemployment is at a four year high. [1]
Child Poverty Action Group’s Executive Officer, Sarita Divis, says “This Bill will put at risk the fundamental human rights and wellbeing of people, including many of our most vulnerable. We are particularly concerned about the so-called non-financial sanctions in this Bill, which in reality would have financial consequences and are targeted towards people with children.”
Sanctions proposed in the Bill include a ‘Money Management’ system where 50% of a person’s benefit is placed onto an MSD payment card that can only be used to buy certain items at approved stores. Divis says, “Many people on income support are paying more than 50% of their income in rent. [2] This sanction risks people not being able to make their rent payments and becoming homeless.”
…these sanctions are aimed at tripping up beneficiaries and forcing them onto Money Management Cards which they can’t use to pay rent or bills…
The new sanctions include ‘money management’, where 50% of someone’s income is put on a payment card that can only be used at selected stores that they have no say in. This makes it harder to pay the rent, power bills, and buy school uniforms or shoes. The other new sanction is ‘community work experience’, forcing people to do unpaid ’volunteer’ work for community organisations to keep their benefit.
…it is literally setting them up for failure, especially when those on the Money Management sanction or the ‘Community Work Experience’ sanction are also banned from accessing Emergency Housing or special needs grants…
“We are also concerned about the proposed ‘Community Work Experience’ scheme”, says Divis. “Official Information Act requests have revealed that people placed into this scheme – and the Money Management scheme – will not be allowed to access emergency housing, or special needs grants. Yet most benefits don’t cover living costs, and many people and their children rely on those supports for keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads.”
…I’m not being metaphorical or figurative her, they are literary setting beneficiaries up to fail a bad faith process designed to punish people for needing help.
By making everyone reapply every 6 month rather than once a year, MSD will be allowed to introduce AI to sort people’s applications, because National cut all the back room staff.
So a faceless AI programme with a predesigned programme to dismiss as many as possible will cause vast fear and anguish in the Community.
The Regulatory Impact Statement told Select Committee that this would cause counter productive outcomes that will see WINZ trying to catch people out rather than help them find jobs.
RIS highlights that sanctions will increase mental and physical health problems, which includes substance abuse and poverty!
This will generate social carnage, not jobs!
Remember 25% of beneficiaries aren’t even given their full allowances, while draconian rules are established to catch beneficiaries out so they ‘owe’ MSD!
MSD then has the audacity to claim that money as an asset!
The state is making money off the misery of poverty generated by their incompetence and brutal service!
I appreciate site there is so much damage being generated by this Government right now, it’s hard to keep on top of it all, but the damage this Government is causing our community is enormous.
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Another nasty hate filled woman in the current government who lived off the system for years till she snared her money laiden man and is now making it imposable for other women and their kids to get out of the swamp .Lets just fuck all women and children over and double down on them if they are gay or brown .She is the white version of Paula bennet
So NAct are going to deny people the CHOICE of what they buy and where they buy because NAct believe Nanny State knows best.
Will the state be negotiating a massive deep discount from the preferred supermarket? Will the discount be put back on the card or sent to the consolidated fund?
It’s even worse than you think, the government chose not to implement several sensible recommendations that kept the proposals but made them fairer like an objective formula for suitability for money management to make sure people were not left unable to pay their rent and longer warning periods and making MSD post warnings as well. They just really don’t care like worse than I thought
‘In November 2014, Upston stated she is not a feminist ‘ (Wikipedia). Honesty in a politician, she hates the deluded females that voted for her. Like battered women who return to abusive partners they will probably vote for her again.
Give fifty thousand dollars to a solo mother and she buys new clothes for her children, gets new, clean bedding, gets drains repaired, gets house repairs, takes her children to the zoo, buys fruit and vegetables, gets Warrant of Fitness for the family car, stocks up on groceries.
The five thousand dollars all goes to local shops, tradespeople, local businesses who in turn spend it in the community. It does good for us all.
Give fifty thousand dollars to a millionaire and they fly to Epstein Island for sick fun and games.
RESTORE STATE SOCIALISM IN AOTEAROA! DEATH TO CAPITALISM!
National’s business donor’s would prefer an economy where unemployment is high enough, so whenever they advertise a position they get dozens of people applying. Yet with good economic growth to maintain high demand for goods and services. Locutus Luxon has been virtually taken over by the donor Borg hive mind.
The govt just doesn’t like the resulting welfare bill, so their answer is to crack down on welfare, simply because they can. They can’t increase jobs, but they can get tough. Upston and her acolytes would regularly hold meetings to brainstorm new ways to make life harder for the jobless, while trying to avoid making it harder for them to get a job, or making incarceration look appealing.
It’s a fine balancing act, having unemployment high enough to satisfy business interests, and cracking down on welfare, while maintaining growth, and is the reason why NZ has been long addicted to high inward migration of workers.
Expect these sanctions to produce higher homelessness and poorer mental health, which the govt will address by providing fewer social houses, reducing police the response to mental health call outs, and increasing the number of security guards in govt offices and hospitals.
We are certainly heading towards the American road, of having built in panic rooms, metal detectors and security guards at the school gate.
The one thing National can’t complain about when they came into govt, was that the jobless rate was too high, as I recall Labour had it down to 3.2%. And guess what, National could have the jobless rate down to 3.2% within a year, if they had the political will to make the right decisions, and ignore their donors.
But the metservice warning about pigs flying is greatly exaggerated.
yes we had a red neck whanau member staying for a few days who made the stupid statement ,all beneficaries should be working for the benefit .She was not happy if there were that many jobs out there why have we got 200k unemployed and another 200k underemployed .Then I pointed out that she is a beneficary so when did she propose to start her new job .
Upston is Paula “Pull’yer Benefit” MkII. Another ladder pulling Tory more than happy to crap on the vulnerable from a great height.
The Natzos want to make the benefit maze so intolerable and unliveable that hunger, thriving, begging, rough sleeping, are seen as a better alternative. More Bennie rights groups needed-but where will they he funding come from with NGOs being slashed?
CORRECTION
In November 2014, Upston stated she is not a feminist ‘ (Wikipedia). Honesty in a politician, she hates the deluded females that voted for her. Like battered women who return to abusive partners they will probably vote for her again.
Give fifty thousand dollars to a solo mother and she buys new clothes for her children, gets new, clean bedding, gets drains repaired, gets house repairs, takes her children to the zoo, buys fruit and vegetables, gets Warrant of Fitness for the family car, stocks up on groceries.
The fifty thousand dollars all goes to local shops, tradespeople, local businesses who in turn spend it in the community. It does good for us all.
Give fifty thousand dollars to a millionaire and they fly to Epstein Island for sick fun and games.
RESTORE STATE SOCIALISM IN AOTEAROA! DEATH TO CAPITALISM!
But you would need to get a job then horn blower?
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