Games boxer asked to pay back dole

Kahukura Bentson has been asked twice to repay part of his benefit. Picture / Paul Estcourt

The Maori Party has slammed Work and Income for allegedly asking a member of the Commonwealth boxing team to repay unemployment benefit money he received while representing New Zealand overseas.

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira said in Parliament yesterday that Auckland middleweight boxer Kahukura Bentson had twice been asked to repay money.

It first occurred after he went to the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 and again after he returned from three days in Canberra, when the New Zealand team took part in a warm-up tournament ahead of next month's Games in Melbourne.

At Manchester, Bentson was on the unemployment benefit, the MP said. In Canberra, he was on a student hardship unemployment benefit, which is paid to students over the holidays.

Social Development and Employment Minister David Benson-Pope told Parliament he was unaware of the case and would be happy to investigate.

However the Government's obligation to pay income support "usually ceases when the client leaves the country" and under legislation he did not "have any discretion on such matters".

Mr Harawira said the situation was ridiculous. "The guy's representing the country, it's like he's working for his country. You don't get to get on to the big international stage because you're the kind of person who sits around doing nothing. If you want to get to that stage you have to be a totally dedicated professional."

The issue affected other athletes as well, he said, as many who didn't have big sponsors ended up on benefits because they couldn't afford to work fulltime and train.

Work and Income's website says clients receiving the unemployment benefit are subject to work-test rules and cannot generally leave New Zealand and continue to get the benefit.

Exceptions can be made for up to 28 days if there are humanitarian or medical reasons or job prospects.

Examples given under the humanitarian category include granting an exemption if the travel has "special significance for the client".

Similar exemptions are available for a person on the student hardship benefit - but none of the examples includes references to representing New Zealand in sports or other activities.

Work and Income wouldn't comment yesterday, saying it would need written permission from Mr Bentson, who couldn't be reached for comment by the Herald's deadline.

But his father, Rongo Bentson, said the rules seemed petty when "here he is trying to do the right thing and represent his country".

His son was now a sports student at Unitec, but had been on the emergency benefit over summer.

He was not sure how much money was involved, but said every dollar counted for someone on a benefit and losing half a week's income could have a "huge impact".

"But to me it's not just the money, it's the principle."

Work and Income's rules seemed particularly silly in regard to the Canberra trip, he said, as it had been largely over the weekend - the team left on a Thursday and returned on a Sunday - when the "work-test" rules were largely irrelevant.