jubjub
26th October 2006, 07:32 PM
from http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/871048
Looks like you are no longer going to be able to claim anything until you have been here for two years, whereas at the moment you can....
Govt unveils benefit reforms
[/url][url="http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/tvnz_email_story_skin/871048?format=html&parentKeyword=ONE+NEWS"]http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_site_images/shim.gif (javascript:printPage())http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_site_images/shim.gif (http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/common/login?service=list_server) </IMG>
Oct 26, 2006
The government has unveiled a reform of New Zealand's benefit system with changes to be introduced over the next 12 months.
But it admits its ultimate goal of a single core benefit is now on the backburner.
Treasury papers reveal a universal benefit might not be in place until 2010 - a decade after it was first proposed.
National's social welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins says Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope made it clear the government's pledge to deliver a universal benefit has hit the rocks.
"This is clearly a delay tactic. It's an admission of defeat and I think the minster's thrown up his arms and said surrender," says Collins
She says an awful lot of tax-payer money has been spent developing the single core benefit plan, but she doubts it is ever going to happen.
But the minister denies he is giving up, just prioritising his efforts to get the greatest gains, and that means getting more people into work.
Unemployment is at a 20 year low and the government is looking to fill labour shortages by getting more people off benefits.
A key target group is people aged over 60.
If they are on an unemployment benefit they will now be forced to undergo a test determining whether they are fit to take on a job
The plan cuts in next year and could affect more than 6,000 beneficiaries.
Others on welfare will get greater assistance to enter the work force.
Special programmes will target people on the youth benefit, the dpb and sickness and invalids benefit and a seperate initiative aims to get more Maori off the dole
The extra measures will include a job search service, skills courses, and more targeted case management.
Reforms will also see streamlining of entitlements to benefits.
To be entitled, a person will have to have had New Zealand residency for at least two years, although refugees will be exempt from this.
Stand down periods are also to be changed across the board.
Currently the stand down period between a job ending and someone getting a benefit ranges between two and eight weeks. Now it will be standardised at two weeks for all benefits.
"This is a most significant change, its certainly the biggest change to the benefit system in 50 years," says Benson-Pope.
Looks like you are no longer going to be able to claim anything until you have been here for two years, whereas at the moment you can....
Govt unveils benefit reforms
[/url][url="http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/tvnz_email_story_skin/871048?format=html&parentKeyword=ONE+NEWS"]http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_site_images/shim.gif (javascript:printPage())http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_site_images/shim.gif (http://tvnz.co.nz/cda/tvnz/common/login?service=list_server) </IMG>
Oct 26, 2006
The government has unveiled a reform of New Zealand's benefit system with changes to be introduced over the next 12 months.
But it admits its ultimate goal of a single core benefit is now on the backburner.
Treasury papers reveal a universal benefit might not be in place until 2010 - a decade after it was first proposed.
National's social welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins says Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope made it clear the government's pledge to deliver a universal benefit has hit the rocks.
"This is clearly a delay tactic. It's an admission of defeat and I think the minster's thrown up his arms and said surrender," says Collins
She says an awful lot of tax-payer money has been spent developing the single core benefit plan, but she doubts it is ever going to happen.
But the minister denies he is giving up, just prioritising his efforts to get the greatest gains, and that means getting more people into work.
Unemployment is at a 20 year low and the government is looking to fill labour shortages by getting more people off benefits.
A key target group is people aged over 60.
If they are on an unemployment benefit they will now be forced to undergo a test determining whether they are fit to take on a job
The plan cuts in next year and could affect more than 6,000 beneficiaries.
Others on welfare will get greater assistance to enter the work force.
Special programmes will target people on the youth benefit, the dpb and sickness and invalids benefit and a seperate initiative aims to get more Maori off the dole
The extra measures will include a job search service, skills courses, and more targeted case management.
Reforms will also see streamlining of entitlements to benefits.
To be entitled, a person will have to have had New Zealand residency for at least two years, although refugees will be exempt from this.
Stand down periods are also to be changed across the board.
Currently the stand down period between a job ending and someone getting a benefit ranges between two and eight weeks. Now it will be standardised at two weeks for all benefits.
"This is a most significant change, its certainly the biggest change to the benefit system in 50 years," says Benson-Pope.