Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, October 26th, 2022 - 93 comments
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, February 27th, 2020 - 122 comments
Please don’t let economists, lefties, the right, or TOP design a UBI until we start talking about bolting welfare on. Here’s why.
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, February 20th, 2018 - 106 comments
What we need is a government that shares power with beneficiaries.
Written By: - Date published: 12:44 pm, February 8th, 2018 - 212 comments
The sick and twisted thing about right wing politics is that tories like a certain level of unemployment because competition for jobs is essential for keeping wages low. Then they treat the inevitable victims of this like it’s all people’s own fault. This is the single biggest reason why I don’t buy into the narrative […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:42 am, November 10th, 2017 - 111 comments
What happens to long term beneficiaries who can’t increase their income with paid work?
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, October 30th, 2017 - 108 comments
With the ongoing revelations, stories and court cases showing the terrible state of welfare services in NZ, Lawyer and journalist Catriona MacLennan has written a list of what needs to change.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, October 26th, 2017 - 86 comments
Lawyer and journalist Catriona MacLennan explains the details of a case before the High Court this week. Anyone who wants to understand how the Ministry of Social Development and WINZ are utterly failing as a government department needs to read this.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 4th, 2017 - 66 comments
“It is not okay that nearly everyone I have advocated for at WINZ, has broken down in tears during appointments and have often been close to a panic attack. Most people I advocate for at WINZ unanimously tell me it is a humiliating and utterly defeating experience.” – political writer and community activist Chloe King.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 14th, 2017 - 13 comments
Auckland event on Sunday – if you have ideas about how to #FIXWINZ you are invited to come along.
Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, September 11th, 2017 - 75 comments
Voting has opened for advance votes and the expectation is that it will be pretty heavy prior to polling day over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be out there voting today for Jacinda Arden as my local MP, and for the Greens as my party vote.
Written By: - Date published: 6:25 am, August 18th, 2017 - 10 comments
Tips on helping people to enrol to vote.
Written By: - Date published: 7:13 am, August 16th, 2017 - 68 comments
A must read Guest Post for anyone thinking about poverty and welfare this election – a former social scientist turned welfare beneficiary speaks out on WINZ’s state-sponsored neglect of more than 84,000 long-term disabled New Zealanders.
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, August 14th, 2017 - 157 comments
Punitive welfare settles into a new low.
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, August 7th, 2017 - 126 comments
No doubt those purity pledge campaigners who rained stones on Metiria Turei will be just as keen to get to the bottom of all this, and no doubt Paula Bennett will be keen to take personal responsibility and clear her name.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, July 20th, 2017 - 35 comments
If you know that feeling of dread when you get a WINZ letter, or if you’ve had roiling anxiety from being ‘called in’ for a WINZ interview, or sighed with relief when the letter from WINZ turns out to be a replacement community services card, then follow #IamMetiria. And if you just don’t recognise those, then you might want to follow #IamMetiria to find out why others do…
Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, July 17th, 2017 - 241 comments
Turei’s admission that she lied to WINZ back in the day was a political gamble. It could resonate with a big chunk of non-voters – here’s a politician that’s just like us – has been through what we’re going through. On the other hand it gives the usual mean-spirited righties a club to beat her with. Interesting that Paula Bennett is treading so lightly round the issue.
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, July 13th, 2017 - 63 comments
Amongst all the hooha of the political week, Labour did something pretty cool with its winter heating announcement. They made a policy for all beneficiaries. We should be paying attention to what underpins that because there is potential here.
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, July 21st, 2016 - 204 comments
The government is demolishing and selling state house while WINZ sends families to live in garages. This is New Zealand in the Eighth Year of the Brighter Future.
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, May 20th, 2016 - 18 comments
A petition: “As Minister of Social Development we call upon Minister Anne Tolley to urgently forgive all debts incurred by people who have been forced to stay in Motels as emergency accommodation….”
Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, April 8th, 2016 - 43 comments
Why does it take a volunteer organisation like Auckland Action Against Poverty to help people get the benefits that they are entitled to?
Written By: - Date published: 9:41 pm, March 21st, 2016 - 47 comments
The thing about not having great sight is that sometimes you don’t really see things coming.
Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, December 23rd, 2015 - 61 comments
There’s still a few MPs “on duty”. Their function is to maintain the semblance of active government and to roll out a bunch of announcements they hope will escape full scrutiny.
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, October 5th, 2015 - 22 comments
I guess it’s not exactly news that WINZ is dysfunctional, but its interesting to have some actual data on one of the symptoms. Bonus feature – one of the Nats’ worst excuses ever.
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, September 16th, 2015 - 17 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on the WINZ underpayment fiasco.
Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 7th, 2014 - 9 comments
The announcement from National that they’d bribe unemployed beneficiaries to go to Christchurch was “An empty grab for headlines”. Perhaps they should have used their strategy for party renewal? Pay more from party funds awash from selling the time of Ministers time seems to work well.
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, March 14th, 2014 - 183 comments
Yesterday one woman’s story blew the lid on our government’s treatment of beneficiaries. Sarah Wilson’s post on her ongoing struggles just to get Work and Income to do their job properly and give her the support she needs went viral, and as the comments flooded in, more stories emerged. Stories about how humiliating it is […]
Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, October 24th, 2012 - 50 comments
Despite an apparently never-ending parade of security stuff-ups at WINZ, Paula Bennet is “not concerned”. What exactly is her job then?
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, August 16th, 2011 - 72 comments
Or how the food card will inevitably push beneficiaries into all types of deeper strife.
The cartoon (since it doesn’t show up clearly and you might be wondering) is a lifebelt being thrown in the “Welfare” cell and a book titled “Learn to swim” being thrown in the second “Welfare Reform” cell.
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