Letters to the editor: Hardship grants, the economy and the Government

The Government has handed out millions of dollars in hardship assistant grants. Photo / Getty Images

Carmen Hall’s lead article (News, January 16) shows just how bad the internal economy in NZ is now performing.

What country of five million-plus people can afford this level of ongoing state (taxpayer) assistance to an ever-growing number of individuals that seem unable to care for themselves independently of the state?

To those that are assessed as being beneficiaries in need or those that are deemed to require taxpayer funding assistance - the state needs them to stand on their own two feet.

It’s become far too easy to get handouts. We can and should only be providing temporary hand-ups.

Incidentally, what is the current total taxpayer cost of funding those of us that are deemed to be incapable of looking after ourselves?

This cost per head sounds frightening.

- Richard Ashton, Te Puke

Premium comments:

I’m so very, very glad that my taxes are being spent on catastrophic million-dollar ideological restructurings of healthcare, media, polytechs and water, along with rewriting the history curriculum, art for parliamentarians and other pet projects while New Zealanders suffer in poverty, the roads fall into disrepair and crime skyrockets! - Jonathan S

Irrespective of whether all the hardship payments are appropriate, isn’t the growth in these payments yet another signal that this Government has got it so wrong on so many occasions and people are suffering?

Wasn’t child poverty (or some other trite statement) issued by the PM as something that she was going to be personally responsible for? - Mike H

Inflation will continue to attack the wallets of the people of this country. We were warned. We cannot say we didn’t see this coming. The current Government was warned, and chose to ignore advice. The sad thing is, the poor policy decisions, which were made with no regard to the advice received, have caused the most harm to the very people who support Labour.

If I may be so bold; New Zealand needs a stable, considered, reasonable, well-costed Government. And if we could have a whole lot less of it, that would be awesome. Thanks. - Kim B

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