And yet 100,000 are. Tens of thousands more than were on it when the current government arrived in power. How on Earth is that possible?
And when are enough hard questions going to be asked about a government that protects the lazy, those without ambition, and a belief that the state, i.e you and I, should be paying their bills while they do nothing.
Traditionally, they have been able to hide behind excuses like geography. Small towns struggling, no jobs to be had, jobs that were too highly skilled, too many people went for the job and they missed out. But here in 2022 one of the very few upsides of the current economic mess we are in is that there are jobs everywhere.
Look at the windows of the shops and tell me, in your lifetime have you ever seen so many people looking to fill so many gaps? And yet, despite the myriad of opportunities over 100,000 can't seem to find a single one of them.
That's welfare abuse.
For a while, a previous government had a half decent plan. You would not be on the dole, that’s what they called it, not the Jobseeker benefit, because being a jobseeker means you are actually seeking, not pretending to. I'm sure many aren't even pretending anymore.
But on the dole, you could not simply sit idly by and collect free money. You were either working, in training, or in education. Those were your options. Why aren't they the options now?
This is similar to social housing. You got a house if you were desperate. Now, you get a house when you are desperate and when you aren't desperate anymore, you keep the house. And they wonder why the housing queue is 27,000 long.
The government are apologists and excuse makers for no-hopers. There is no excuse not to have work, there has never been a greater opportunity to work, and the excuses of old no longer apply.
These are extraordinary times. And yet 100,000 can't see it, won't do anything about it, and they have a government on their side.
For those of us working and paying tax for it, that's the crime.
Look at the windows of the shops and tell me, in your lifetime have you ever seen so many people looking to fill so many gaps? And yet, despite the myriad of opportunities over 100,000 can't seem to find a single one of them.
That's welfare abuse.
For a while, a previous government had a half decent plan. You would not be on the dole, that’s what they called it, not the Jobseeker benefit, because being a jobseeker means you are actually seeking, not pretending to. I'm sure many aren't even pretending anymore.
But on the dole, you could not simply sit idly by and collect free money. You were either working, in training, or in education. Those were your options. Why aren't they the options now?
This is similar to social housing. You got a house if you were desperate. Now, you get a house when you are desperate and when you aren't desperate anymore, you keep the house. And they wonder why the housing queue is 27,000 long.
The government are apologists and excuse makers for no-hopers. There is no excuse not to have work, there has never been a greater opportunity to work, and the excuses of old no longer apply.
These are extraordinary times. And yet 100,000 can't see it, won't do anything about it, and they have a government on their side.
For those of us working and paying tax for it, that's the crime.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
3 comments:
You forgot the people who would happily have kept working but the government tried to force them to take a vaccine they didn't want.
apply a simple rule to index the benefits to unemployment levels - this should not be too hard (although it does involve some arithmetic)
I was recently shown through two blocks of new multi storey flats for state tenants. Newer, warmer, than my home. If ensconced in one of those what goal is there to incentivise aome drudge job? It is like being in an upmarket retirement home with individual premises but without the debilitating fees.if we can continue to decolonise a generation no one will possess irrational colonist ambition instinct and all will queue for a state unit.
Many forget that it was search for oportunity rewarding work which drove most colonisers, here although in latter times for some groups the welfare alone has been a key attraction.
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