Quarter of a Million Children Are Now Dependent on Welfare
It's appalling that a quarter of a million children now need an income from the state to feed, clothe and house them.
Lindsay Mitchell
And Now Colonisation Is To Blame
If people are told that it isn’t their fault they are using methamphetamine, how do they take the ownership needed to stop?
Is Whānau Ora Lifting Student Attendance?
Outcomes are expressed in terms of number of engagements and the odd case study, alongside broad-based expressions of improved lives and expectations. This type of ongoing reporting was obviously insufficient to satisfy the new government post 2023.
The Silence on Welfarism and Children
Problems don’t go away because you don’t talk about them. Talking about them is an essential prerequisite to progress.
Stanford Admits Kiwis Don’t Want To Work
Decade after decade governments have failed to successfully tackle the problem. They tinker at best. The issue is poor policy.
This MSD Treatment Is Revealing
On the face of it, MSD has no empathy for Covid fraudsters but no end of empathy for beneficiary fraudsters. So much for a neutral public service.
Luxon Isn’t Talking to Me
And it’s not just him. Hipkins is the same. They talk to this particular group. Is it their group? Their friends and colleagues? Or is that the group that contains the swinging voters?
NZ Immigrants Pull Their Weight
When it comes to those who could be working, Māori are massively over-represented. Whilst colonisation continues to be blamed for Māori ‘disadvantage’, every year thousands of immigrants come to New Zealand and make a contribution.
This Is ‘Brown Optimism’
I don’t think I am ever going to behold this ‘monument’ with any sense of sympathy or warmth.
Talk About Underperforming and Underwhelming
Childish and churlish: that’s the calibre of the man who wants to resume the prime ministership come November.
Latest Benefit Numbers – Beware the Spin
What really matters is the year-on-year comparison.
RNZ Catches up on News Reported Here Over a Month Ago
Let’s hope if the coalition survives the 2026 election, ACT gets to exercise far more influence in this area. Two forgotten words desperately in need of rehabilitation – Personal Responsibility.
Get Rid of the Sole Parent Benefit
Get rid of the sole parent benefit. Lift aspirations for those mothers and better outcomes for their children will follow.
Sallies Are Now Part of the Problem
While it’s true that they provide much-needed emergency services, they also fight against reforms that try to place at least some responsibility back on the shoulders of people receiving benefits.
A Way Forward
Don is reluctant to “kill what we have built up over the last few years” and has suggested that we continue the blog under the title of Brash & Mitchell.
This Is a Litany of Excuses
In the face of this report, the best response the government could make is to defund the Salvation Army for being part of the problem.