Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:634;Page:5989] 
2.  
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development and Employment 
: Does he stand by his statement that “The Labour-led Government stands for social inclusion. We stand for policies that are supportive not punitive … We believe in everyone having a ‘fair go’—that’s the New Zealand way.”? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 Yes. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is the Minister confident that a “fair go” was given to a woman with two children under 3 living in a Housing New Zealand house with holes under the floor whose power had been disconnected because she could not pay the bills and who was told that she was ineligible for a grant for firewood because her children were not yet sick? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I have not had that case drawn to my attention. If the member would like to pass me the details I would be delighted to have it investigated. 
Georgina Beyer 
: What steps has the Government taken to make New Zealand a more socially inclusive country? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: The Government has taken many steps to make New Zealand a more socially inclusive country including the Working for Families tax relief; increases in family support for those on benefits; increases in minimum wage rates; the roll-out of the primary health organisations; 20 hours of free early childhood education for 3 and 4-year-olds; Modern Apprenticeships; improved case management support for sole parents receiving benefits; the introduction of course of income-related rents; lower medical fees; the reduction in unemployment; the abolition of interest on student loans; and among other things increases in New Zealand superannuation. 
Tariana Turia 
: What explanation can the Minister give to the 230000 New Zealanders who are being excluded from the Working for Families in-work payment and who remain in poverty as identified by the Child Poverty Action Group and other leading social commentators? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: As the member will be aware those figures pre-date the introduction of the Working for Families package. She will also be aware that beneficiary families have already received an increase in assistance from that package on an average of $32 per week in the first year. They will get a further increase of $10 per week per child in April 2007. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is the Government giving a “fair go” to those people in Tai Rawhiti who go off the unemployment benefit to do weather dependent field and pack-house work and then if it rains and they cannot work have to go through a stand-down period before their benefits resume; if so does he agree that such punitive treatment disincentivises those trying to get work in the first place and also flies in the face of Government reassurances that people doing seasonal work will not be subject to stand-downs? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: In respect of one of the elements of that question the Hon David Cunliffe and I will be making some announcements in the next couple of days. I tell the member that clearly individual cases that she is concerned about I will be happy to investigate if she passes me that information but that the policies of this Government make no apology for incentivising work. 
Tariana Turia 
: How can social inclusion be maintained for 1675 New Zealand workers and their families who stand to lose their jobs while the Government the major shareholder in Air New Zealand is outsourcing its work to China and Fiji to get cheap labour? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I have no responsibility for Air New Zealand. 
Sue Bradford 
: Does the Minister agree that due to the loss of discretion to grant the special benefit many people around New Zealand are suffering extreme hardship and that food banks in some parts of the country are almost empty; when will this Government do something to address the impact of the abolition of the special benefit other than just talking about Working for Families a programme that fails to assist those New Zealanders in the worst poverty? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: No I do not agree. I tell the member that when I last had the beneficiary advocates in my office I invited them to come to me with any particular concerns they had about the change from the special benefit to temporary additional support and they are yet to do so. 
Sue Bradford 
: Does the Minister think that cases like the ones I talked about earlier reveal fundamentally inadequate provisions of welfare by this Government at least in some parts of the country or that they are demonstrations of systemic failure within his ministry to deliver the proper entitlements to those in need; whichever it is what action will he take to make sure that the one in five kids growing up in poverty in this country get the fair go he claims he is committed to? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: No no and if the member gives me details I will be happy to investigate particular cases as I have twice said.