Thousands Denied Grants Because Food Is “Not An Essential” Deserve Assistance To Survive – Greens

The Green Party is calling on the Minister of Social Development to answer why thousands of people were told food was not an essential when declined for Special Needs Grants.

“People who need Special Needs Grants are often at their rock bottom. They have little to no assets, no savings, and are unable to cover an essential or immediate need. Often this essential need is food”, says Ricardo Menendez March, Green Party Social Development Spokesperson.

“The Government shouldn’t create barriers for people to get help. Last week the Greens announced we will double the amount people can get at Work and Income for food assistance and reintroduce the higher trust model that existed during the pandemic for hardship assistance.”

“Instead, declines for food assistance under Upston’s watch have skyrocketed over the past two years, and thousands of people were told that food was not an essential. The Coalition Government is telling New Zealanders who need support to survive that they’re on their own.”

“The Minister can’t simply claim this is an admin error. Why is there an option to decline assistance because food is “not an essential” if it isn’t intended to be used?”

“Louise Upston needs to front up and tell the public what her expectations are and investigate whether those declined food assistance were left in hardship, distress, and danger.”

“MSD say they’re returning to pre-pandemic approaches, but the pre-pandemic policies were also a disaster and failed our communities. Access to Special Needs Grants was so difficult that, in 2019, people were queuing up as early as 2am at Work and Income to get in person support.”

“The goal shouldn’t be to reach an arbitrary number. Special Needs Grants were accessed by more than 318,000 people in 2025, almost 6% of the total population. New Zealanders who can’t cover essential needs deserve support when they need it.”

“Poverty is a political choice. Louise Upston and National can’t keep avoiding responsibility for their decisions to wrongfully decline support, and their failure to take action to create jobs and lift people out of poverty,” says Ricardo Menendez March.