Work and Income spent more than $10,000 fulfilling a ministerial request to change the name of its Benefit Crime Unit to Benefit Control Unit.
Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey, answering written questions from Act MP Muriel Newman, said the Government promised during its pre-election campaign to change the unit's name.
Figures from Mr Maharey show changing the word "crime" to "control" cost $10,102.48. That included $1517 for the letterhead, $2471 for business cards, $2340 for signs, $2715 for documentation and $1058 for identity cards.
Mr Maharey said the initiative was worth it, as it meant far more than just a change of one word in the unit's title.
"While it seems like a small change, it's a definite re-emphasis away from allowing this [benefits] debt just to build up."
Work with benefit advocates after the election supported Government policy that the focus should shift to controlling debt rather than catching fraudsters.
The unit was now preventing people getting into debt rather than just waiting to detect criminals once people got themselves into serious situations, he said.
Mr Maharey said he hoped to launch the unit's new plan in more detail in the next few weeks.
- NZPA
What's a word worth? $10,000 - and change
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