Labour’s weak Welfare Policy whitewashed by identity politics and eclipsed by National malice
Government’s political opponents slam new social welfare sanctions
The Government says there will be “no more excuses” for beneficiaries not knowing what their responsibilities are, vowing to take a “harder line” with sanctions under a new traffic-light system.
But the Labour Party, the Greens and Auckland Action Against Poverty have slammed the announcement, saying it will do more harm than good. Labour called the move benefit-bashing, the Greens said these were “cruel policies” hurting people in poverty who needed support, while Auckland Action Against Poverty says the sanctions won’t work, and will only add more stress to people already in very stressful situations.
As we watch this hard right, racist, beneficiary bashing, disabled abusing, climate denying Government blitzkrieg through an anti-Treaty, antri-Māori, anti-Worker, anti-Renter, anti environment agenda, Against the Current asks why Labour didn’t remove sanctions when they had the chance…
While Labour and the Green’s might be critical of the coalition government’s new sanctions regime for beneficiaries, the sanction framework was still in place when Labour left office in October 2023.
… With 60% of our newsrooms now female, the lens of woke identity seems to be all that matters.
Read The Spinoff, Stuffs and NZ Heralds review of Carmel Sepuloni’s appointment and it’s all identity politics soaked ‘you go girl’ feminism that champions her being the first Pacific Island Deputy.
There is no reflection whatsoever on her time as Minister presiding over the very weak and vulnerable that those woke newsrooms profess to care about, because when we do that, the gloss strips away very quickly.
Now let me be clear, I love our Pacific Community, and they should celebrate a Pacific Island appointee after the decades and decades of loyalty they’ve shown the Labour Party, but by only viewing her appointment through the middle class identity politics lens, The Spinoff, Stuff and NZ Herald have miss the real story an do their readers a terrible disservice.
For the woke, diversity and representation are the only currency, meritocracy is a heteronormative white male privilege and nothing matters more than identity.
Which is deeply problematic because a critical analysis of Carmel Sepuloni’s time as Social Welfare Minister highlights how shallow The Spinoff, Stuff and NZ Heralds ‘journalism’ is.
The Minister refused to implement any single one of the 42 key recommendations from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group…
Govt yet to fully implement a single key WEAG recommendation nearly three years on: new research
None of the 42 key recommendations of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) have been fully implemented almost three years after the report release, with 22 minimally or partially implemented, new research by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has found
….The Minister threw 4000 disabled beneficiaries off welfare…
Govt sanctions sick jobseekers for failing to prepare for work
The Labour Government has cut the benefits of around 4000 sick, injured of disabled jobseekers in the last five years because they weren’t preparing to return to work fast enough.
…and most appallingly, the Minister gutlessly acquiesced to State Services to remove the Children’s Commissioner from overseeing Oranga Tamariki which will see vulnerable children in State care made even more vulnerable.
Carmel Sepuloni is a Labour Party Social Welfare Minister, in her time she has implemented no recommendations to make life easier for beneficiaries, she has thrown 4000 disabled beneficiaries off welfare and she has made the life of vulnerable children in state care far more dangerous, and yet as far as the female journalists at Spinoff, Stuff and NZ Herald are concerned none of that matters because hashtag feminism, hashtag diversity.
This celebration of Identity above all else is warping our news media and the issue is far wider than coverage of Carmel Sepuloni, it extends to the perception of poverty as well.
Back in November 2021 when we were chasing vaccination rates, there were 159, 810 Māori unvaccinated, 42, 183 Pasifika unvaccinated and a staggering 317, 544 Pakeha who are unvaccinated!
By constantly screaming vaccine hesitancy was a Māori and Pasifica problem, we let 317, 544 Pakeha off the hook!
I fear we’ve done the same thing with child poverty.
There are 156,700 children in poverty in households with less than 50% median equivalised disposable household income before deducting housing costs (BHC), 53,600 identify as Maori, 72,600 identify as pakeha.
There are more white children in poverty than Māori children and that might be difficult to visualise because the focus is almost exclusively on Māori children.
Yes, proportionately these stats hit Māori hardest, but by allowing that to decide the entire focus of the debate we ignore the far larger numerical problem of those issues impacting poor White families and that allows an escape to scrutinize what’s really happening.
By constantly blaming Māori we can’t see that this is a failure of neoliberalism that cascades across race. Look at the chart above, the poverty rate soared post Rogernomics!
It’s not an identity issue, it’s a class issue exacerbated by a neoliberal economic hegemony that purposely rigs the system!
Identity politics journalism is seen as activism first, journalism second and it is missing the far larger questions and context, and by doing so divides rather than builds.
There are numerically more white people in poverty than Māori and some Māori led organisations see more Pakeha from their community than Māori!
By ignoring the material wellbeing and pain of white communities, we plant seeds of spite, that’s why Universal Left Social Policy is essential to this debate.
It’s about the economic well being of everyone utilising well funded public services that subsidise the cost of living by taxing the mega rich.
Labour’s weak Welfare Policy was whitewashed by identity politics and it’s been eclipsed by National’s malice.
To be honest, whatever the Labour government did this coalition would have implemented it again at the first opportunity.
Maybe the govt could meet its targetted 50k reduction in beneficiary numbers by 2030, and do it by 2025? Since it’s already been done in recent history by covid, when the closure of the borders stopped the importation of migrant workers, the umemployment rate magically went down to 3%, with a consequent reduction in welfare. Miraculous! Amazing! Unbelievable! While it is now about 5% and climbing, and skilled kiwis are exiting the country en mass, and power prices are blowing out, thanks to the legacy of Nationals power company asset sales a decade ago. And don’t mention the wheels falling off the health system – just be thankful if you can still access your local GP.
Yes, there has been Luxon’s extemporaneous lies and gaffs regarding how much a jobseeker benefit is, and how many new MSD phone interviewers there would be. And Upston not turning up in parliament to keep her appointment to deliver a speech on a welfare bill, and her not having the faintest idea about the conseqences for those who have been sanctioned by MSD – so reminiscent of the treatment received by abuse in care survivors, out of sight, out of mind.
Any sensible person would be able to answer the question Upston couldn’t, which is that we will see history repeat, with a burgeoning of the prison muster and people living in cars – happy days.
Any sensible person could also see that the answer to getting the unemployment rate down, is to stop importing migrant workers.
But Luxon and Upston are politicians far from sensible, and deserve a clap just for tying their shoe laces.
Hmmm, lying, forgetting, not attending appointments, MSD would sure take a dim view of those two miscreants.
“Any sensible person could also see that the answer to getting the unemployment rate down, is to stop importing migrant workers.”
Any NAct person can see that the answer to cranking the housing market and suppressing wages is to import more migrant workers.
Immigration not a problem. Over-immigration big problem.
Why don’t unions speak out against over-immigration?
Unions help exploited migrant workers, great, but don’t say anything to stop too many people from coming here to be exploited. Are unions demanding that business migrants who exploit workers be kicked out?
That’s right, rules only apply to some people.
Logic is not their strong point. How could they be logical when they need to manipulate everything and everyone to fit their story.
This is the worst govt in NZ political history, it has no moral compass and no economic plan other than punitive measures against the poorest in the community. They have planted ice and will ultimately reap a cruel wind.
Time to wake up, Labour doesn’t care either, haven’t for decades.
Maybe if Labour hadn’t beso anti-gun, they’d still be in Government.
Yeah ! Let’s vote for more liberal gun laws and gun related deaths like Brazil and the US. 90,000 less on welfare per annum.
Let’s get our sensible laws back & have them administered by an organization that cares about public safety, ie not the NZ Police. You can move to Brazil if you want.
Jim Jefferies is wrong about Australia having the biggest assault rifle massacre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cECZQ7rJ8CM
Maybe if Labour hadn’t been so anti-gun, they’d still be in Government.
Maybe if those who voted for this coalition of idiots hadn’t been so easily duped by US MAGA influencers in NZ then Labour would still be in office.
Duped? We’re going to get what we want, you’re getting what you deserve.
Happy for you to make my day anytime punk, any corral you choose is ok with me.
You’re getting the Government you deserve, nothing more.
Getting the idiot parties in govt you and the other idiots voted for, nothing less.
Enjoy, you know you earned it.
The country could not have survived another 3 years of piss weak law and order and inflation running wild.
Try being a horticulturist and trying to get your fruit picked.Try telling them there is a shortage of jobs for the unemployed. They pay well if you work hard and that is the problem. The work ethic is missing and it shows in our lack of productivity.
Australia is still paying great wages and Victoria are anticipating 500 t immigrants this year
I have been thinking about this blog and once again it turns on the Labour government to make it look bad, the Labour government doesn’t need critics because the supposed supporters are their worst critics this in the time of the most racial divisive government in modern history. Labour had covid but it kept people in work, there was historical high numbers of jobs so one could say for certain that some people should have been at work. Now we have the disabled in this government’s sights pushing them out to work when there are no jobs and those jobs at $2 an hour but that’s ok with Upston , you can see her relishing her power over the poor and disabled. The only thing this government is capable of is cutting jobs and making everything so much worse just for a piddling tax cut for the mainly rich landlords and the wealthy in general and their donor mates
“They pay well” is only your opinion. Whatever job you offer, if you offer a reasonable pay rate, you will get the workers, that’s the reality. Taking your example of fruit picking, which is intensive work over a short period of time, ideally you would pay minimum wage as a retainer, and a bonus for the amount picked, which would address the pay aspect, plus a lower rate compensation when weather prevents any picking. And then some arrangment with similar growers in the area to organise accomodation of sorts, since workers must also reside somewhere in their time off. And in the longer term, serious efforts could be made by growers organisations, to have varying crops providing a continuity of work. If the continuity is good enough, and the pay rate respectable, and it’s organised well, it could become a favoured option for jobseekers. Fruit picking appears more suited to backpackers and RSE workers, as it stands.
Absolutely correct.
Try carrying a 25kg bag on your back for 8 hours a day back and forth all day long.
Fruit picking is not as easy as the critic’s make it out to be.
The pay rate is pathetic.
The biggest misconception of the unemployed is mobility, mobility ain’t cheap and sending them to pick seasonal apples in the Hawkes bay when they don’t live anywhere near Hawkes Bay on a casual job isn’t going to work for a person with a family there is no family accommodation they don’t pay well enough to pay 2 rents if there were any rentals available, you simply can’t move your whole family for a seasonal job. These jobs are mainly for single mobile people backpackers ,locals pacific island workers plus there is absolutely no guarantee of this work even for the more mobile single unemployed, these growers will have their favorite workers come back year after year so not as easy as it sounds.