8. Question No. 8—Social Development and EmploymentRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister for Social Development and EmploymentQuestion No. 8—Social Development and Employment8. RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What steps if any is the Government taking to review hardship assistance and civil defence payments that have not been increased in nearly 20 years to ensure these meet the needs of whānau affected by floods cyclones and other natural disasters? Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment) on behalf of the Minister for Social Development and Employment: This Government has already made changes to improve hardship assistance. We've increased income thresholds permanently for hardship assistance so that low-income workers can access this support and increased dental grants from $300 to $1000. As part of the welfare overhaul we also have a review of hardship assistance under way and that will include civil defence payments. This Government has acted quickly to support communities impacted by weather events earlier this year and we continue to do so. Civil defence payments are an important part of this and over the course of the weather events the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) paid over $64 million in civil defence payments to over 100000 people. There is a lot of flexibility in the number of grants that MSD can provide in exceptional circumstances and I believe that we have effectively supported people through these tough times and as I have mentioned we'll continue to do so.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she think that current thresholds for civil defence payment eligibility are adequate and if not will she conduct the review with urgency so that families do not have to experience more severe weather events and only be able to receive a payment that is 20 years old?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: I think the point to note here is the flexibility of the civil defence payments. They cover a fair bit of ground—a large number of circumstances following the weather events that we have seen to date—and I think it's also important to note that we are currently looking into the rates of hardship assistance as part of the welfare overhaul as I have mentioned. It is a priority for this Government to look into this over the next 12 months.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she think families should always be made aware of the maximum amount they are entitled to through the civil defence payment rather than being asked how much they need when it may not match the need that they have?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: As I mentioned previously both the flexibility of civil defence payments and the fact that they are based on the needs of individuals and families are important to note. I think I've also made it clear that MSD case managers should ensure that people who are coming to them for support get their full and correct entitlement; in fact there has been a work programme under way to ensure that this happens and it is now standard practice for MSD to ensure that their clients are receiving full and correct entitlements at every engagement. In fact during the weather response MSD staff were on the ground from the get-go working in civil defence centres working in the community centres as well setting up the emergency 0800 number and responding to thousands of calls per day for assistance. I've been on the ground at some of those centres myself and I have seen that staff are talking to clients about their full and correct entitlements.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she accept that if MSD staff do not proactively and always tell people needing assistance the maximum amount they are legally entitled to before asking how much they need some families will not be getting their full and correct entitlements?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: While I can't speak on behalf of every individual MSD case manager what I can say is that it is standard practice for MSD to ensure that clients do get their full and correct entitlements.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does she agree that climate-related natural disasters are likely to result in communities needing greater support through the civil defence payments and if so will she move forward the review of these payments to ensure that they're fit for purpose?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: Civil defence payments kick in when there is a civil defence emergency and that will continue to happen regardless of the number of such situations we have. With regard to the review as I have said it is a priority for this Government to look into that in the next 12 months.Teanau Tuiono: Why did Māori receive on average a lower amount from the civil defence payment following the recent flooding events?Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN: On behalf of the Minister while the average dollar amount per grant for Māori may be lower than for people of other ethnicities it is more useful to look at the average dollar amount per person. The average dollar amount per person for Māori recipients of the civil defence payment was $630.63—higher than the average for Europeans and in line with the overall average. I will also reiterate the point that I made earlier that civil defence payments can be accessed multiple times based on need. The Government has also invested $15 million to accelerate the Māori-led response to Cyclone Gabrielle. The investment is supporting a range of efforts including providing relief workers planning and coordination of recovery and clean-up and purchase of replacement equipment and storage for food and taonga.