Susan St John

ACT’s propositions are to further reduce the welfare safety net, and  their “fair, modern employment insurance scheme” is a chimera designed to deceive. 

Dr Susan St John and Claire Dale

At last there will be attention to the divisive issue of the In Work Tax Credit (IWTC).  From today (1st July) parents no longer have to meet rigid fixed weekly hours of work to qualify for this weekly payment of at least $72.50 made to the caregiver for the support of their children.

Does child poverty now not matter?  Why, since the problem was so clearly identified was it then ignored? And of course, these children live in families with adults who are also impoverished- so does that not matter either? 

As WEAG and CPAG have said multiple times, first fix the Act and frame our purposes and principles intelligently. That is the way to get the culture shift we will so desperately need.    

When share markets crash, it becomes clear that shares are only ever a potential claim on resources. They have to be converted into money before they can command the basics of survival.  When the music stops, few want to buy any more. Today’s share market crash reflects not just the bursting of a speculative bubble but also a loss of faith in the viability of the underlying businesses associated with tourism and travel.

In a few months’ time the Winter Energy Payment (WEP) will start for beneficiaries and superannuitants. Underpinning this badly-targeted policy are unexamined assumptions about living arrangements.  

The government’s undermining of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) report: Whakamana Tangata has been masterful.  WEAG was set up in May 2018 and reported finally in February 2019. After sitting on the report for months, the government manoeuvred the burying of it in the launch in May, with a fanfare of three miniscule crumbs to be implemented in 2020.

Monday marks the start of a three week hearing in the Auckland High Court over the leak of Winston Peters’ superannuation overpayment to the media. Winston has been greatly offended, to the tune of $1.8 million dollars and wants to get it at the taxpayers’ expense.