Carmel Sepuloni is saddened to be included in claims from one Auckland poverty action group that politicians are disconnected from the realities of poverty in New Zealand.
Sepuloni, the Social Development and Employment Minister was played a video clip while appearing on Breakfast.
“I think politicians are really disconnected from the realities that people are living in, in New Zealand,” Brooke Fiafia from Auckland Action Against Poverty said in the clip from Breakfast yesterday.
“For many New Zealanders poverty is still a theory, it’s an idea, you know what I mean so there is no sense of urgency in terms of addressing it or responding to it because people are so disconnected from lived realities.”
Sepuloni admitted being upset by the claims.
“I’m quite sad that Brooke would say that because I don’t think I am, I grew up in a household that lost jobs during the 90s so they experienced first hand the Ruth Richardson (former National Finance Minister) cuts, I’ve been on a benefit myself, I’ve got family members who experience hardship,” Sepuloni said.
“And I’m the MP for Kelston where hardship is a reality for many families.”
Sepuloni was asked about changes coming in for beneficiaries tomorrow, with the amount they receive to increase by 3.1 per cent, in line with the average rise in wages.
“What we have to keep in mind here is that this is just one of many changes our Government has put in place but this one of the enduring ones,” she said.
“This is one that sees benefits go up more than they otherwise would every year on the 1st of April.
“They got far behind because we didn’t have this type of measure in place, if this is all we were doing, then I would be clearly concerned but it’s not.”
Sepuloni defended the Government’s record acting on the recommendations from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group.
“They’re actually a lot more complex than one thing we must do and then it’s done,” she said.
“Many of them are things like invest in up-skilling and training, expanding employment, support through MSE, that type of work is ongoing.
“There’s still more to do and we’re committed to doing that, we have got it in our manifesto, continue to address income inadequacy of the welfare system.”
“Going back to the Welfare Expert Advisory Group’s recommendation, they recommended benefit increases between 12 and 47 per cent, if we only look at JobSeeker benefit for people over 25, it’ll be 21 per cent that’s increased by after the 1st of April since April 2017.
“So we’re making significant progress.”
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