UBI: what is it good for?
Please don’t let economists, lefties, the right, or TOP design a UBI until we start talking about bolting welfare on. Here’s why.
Economy
benefits
Having us squabble over the welfare pie
When we hear a supposedly progressive economist talking about elderly people as decrepit, or rendering the elderly poor invisible, it’s time to revisit our moral compass.
Common-wealth Government
Advantage is testing an idea out. What will a common accountability framework for the government look like?
National’s plans to torment poor people leaked
National’s plans to torment poor people for political gain have been leaked.
Labour and welfare
Many of us wanted to believe that the Ardern-led compassion would apply to all New Zealanders, but Labour’s defence of highly punitive benefit sanctions tell us it doesn’t.
Flact Tax
Act has proposed a tax increase for the bottom 64% of all tax payers.
Bene bashing
National has engaged in the most crass form of beneficiary bashing in opposing Government changes to the benefit system announced in the budget and passed under urgency.
Support Tax Fairness Reform
The Tax Justice Network has started a campaign to gain support for taxing capital as income to support and improve our public services. If you would like to support the campaign, you can sign the petition here or donate here. All funds donated will go to the campaign advertising.
New Child Poverty statistics will provide a sound baseline for reduction targets
Child Poverty Action Goup has provided comments about new child poverty measurements.
National starts political year beneficiary bashing
National has kicked off the year by reverting to type and engaging in a classic example of beneficiary bashing based on a distortion of official statistics.
Employment Law Changes; A Win for the Workers
The Labour Party sponsored amendments to the Employment Relations Act are a step closer to becoming law. That’s a good thing for working people and a good thing for coalition politics.
KiwiBuild doesn’t fly.
More than that, it needs to be torn down before it makes a serious bid at flight.
National forgets it apologised for Housing Corp meth hysteria
Three months ago National apoligised for getting dud advice and evicting hundreds of state house tenants where miniscule amounts of methamphetamine were discovered. This week National backed off from that very proper apology.
Bludger Bridges
Simon Bridges has blown over $100k of your money in just three months, tiki touring around the country at the taxpayers expense. Nice work if you can get it!
Update: A Shark Jumps Matthew Hooton. Live on Twitter!
The Benefit Arrives
Simon ‘Soimon’ Bridges calls his deputy by her critic’s favourite nickname. Cui bono, as the Romans used to say. Who benefits?
Sanctions for beneficiary bashers
Simon Bridges, who is clearly struggling for relevance, has decided to try and improve his political position by bashing beneficiaries.
The UN is shocked by NZ’s child poverty rates
Earlier this year the United Nations expressed shock and concern at New Zealand’s rates of child poverty, homelessness, incarceration and violence. What is this Government doing to address these issues?
Government with a plan
The polls are great. Top work. But I’m getting worried about the entropy of this government already. Matthew Hooten and Karl Marx agree with me.
Families Package and Auckland Regional Fuel tax kick in
Labour’s Family Package and the Auckland Regional Fuel tax have both kicked in.
Carmel Sepuloni announces much needed changes to improve WINZ
Carmel Sepuloni has announced much needed changes to make WINZ more sensitive to the needs of New Zealanders who need assistance.
Killing Them Softly With…
In New Zealand there is sufficient evidence to show that poor peoples’ lives are cut short because of poverty related poor nutrition. While food banks are alleviating the worst impacts of hunger, their kindness may well be contributing to the problem. Food poverty is a systemic issue and requires a systemic response, a response that successive governments are able to avoid while charities continue to provide a buffer for the system.
Who Really is Judging the Poor?
Some conversations about poverty are harming those in need. Those conversations contribute to the stigma and shame experienced by struggling families, who are barely surviving, but still trying to maintain some dignity. As a result even those in need are differentiating between the deserving and undeserving poor.
Why does Simon hate pensioners?
In a welcome move by Labour to relieve energy poverty on those with fixed, low incomes, all beneficiaries (including pensioners) are to get up to $700 extra automatically over winter.
National obviously hate this.
Fudget for Austerity
Some proposals on why we just got the budget we did.
Carmel Sepuloni respect
It is great that we have a Minister of Social Development who actually has empathy for poor New Zealanders, as shown by her treatment of dog whistle questions in Parliament today.
Should MPs also be subject to sanctions when they don’t do their job?
National MPs have without notice refused to turn up to the House Committee of Parliament. Should they have their pay docked?
Thank you Metiria.
Some movement on social security (a thing we all deserve)
The Largesse
April the first and second mark the days when those receiving entitlements receive a yearly increase in line with the CPI and the governments increase to Accommodation Supplement also comes into effect. So what does it all mean for those receiving entitlements?
Writehanded: A sea change – or just more weasel words?
A few weeks ago Sarah Wilson at Writehanded looked at the promise in Labour’s welfare policy and whether we are going to be disappointed.
Food security in New Zealand
The Standard regular commenter Macro takes a look at the state of food security in NZ
Us and them – what will Labour do about WINZ?
What we need is a government that shares power with beneficiaries.
Beg packing
Two people playing at being poor as part of a sociopolitical stance on economics has angered many New Zealanders.
The Housing Crisis.
Can politics deliver?
We are beneficiaries
The sick and twisted thing about right wing politics is that tories like a certain level of unemployment because competition for jobs is […]
NZ Court of Appeal and the Ministry of Health
The government has a responsibility to act fairly, centre its services around the needs of people, and treat NZ citizens as human beings.
Jacinda Ardern’s child poverty speech
In a major speech yesterday on poverty, Prime Minister Ardern has laid out fully and forthrightly what is the problem and what need to be done.