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# We Must Wake up to Reality
- URL: https://goodoil.news/we-must-wake-up-to-reality/
- Published: 2023-07-30T21:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-07-29T23:06:21.000Z
- Author: Reproduced with permission
- Tags: Economy, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-16 22:22

**Lindsay Mitchell**

[bassettbrashandhide.com](https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/lindsay-mitchell-waking-up-to-reality?ref=goodoil.news)

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Today’s Labour Party boasts their credentials by raising beneficiary incomes. It’s so important to them, that a requirement to report regularly on benefit incomes was instigated on advice from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (headed by Cindy Kiro, who was duly rewarded).

Here is a chart from the latest report. It shows that the *average* benefit income for a couple with two or more children is now $1212 weekly or $5,252 monthly. This is net. For more detail read the [report.](https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/research/benefit-system/total-incomes-annual-report-2023.pdf?ref=goodoil.news)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image_2023-07-30_105036405.png)

Image credit: bassettbrashandhide.com

This leaves a question I don’t think the left has ever addressed apart from inciting \[a\] Marxist class warfare whereby beneficiaries and low-paid workers are persuaded to unite in a relentless ‘them’ and ‘us’ struggle.

That might succeed so long as a margin between income from work and income from a benefit remains.

What happens when that disappears? What happens when benefits pay more than jobs?

Here’s one [result](https://lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/working-at-fisheries.html?ref=goodoil.news).

Labour’s worst nightmare.

*Lindsay Mitchell blogs* [*here*](http://www.lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com/?ref=goodoil.news).

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