“There are certain regions in New Zealand where there is low unemployment or there are Kiwis who are simply not willing to do some of those jobs, be it in agriculture or aged care,” she said.
At December 2025, one of the lowest unemployment regions was Canterbury at 3.7 percent (all of NZ is 5.4%).
At the same time there were 41,676 working age (18-65 year-old) people in Canterbury dependent on a main benefit.
Some will be unable to work due to some form of incapacity. But there are, nevertheless, just under 10,000 Jobseeker beneficiaries described as work-ready.
There are just under 7,000 sole parents on a benefit. Being a sole parent doesn't prevent the parent from working. A great many do.
Farmers or residential care homes cannot be blamed for wanting people who actually do want to work.
But the government can be blamed for running a welfare system that encourages and perpetuates idleness. A lot of the people "who are simply not willing to do some of those jobs" have never worked; come from families (a term used loosely) who have only a passing acquaintance with the notion, as did the prior generation. The welfare system sustains this lifestyle by paying generously for children and making very few demands on sole parents (who very often are only of 'sole' status for the purposes of collecting a benefit). This is the norm in certain communities.
The political response? You get a minister protecting her own patch by blaming another's. Erica Stanford feels quite free to tell the press there are people who simply don't want to work. Can Louise Upston do the same? Dare the minister in charge of the welfare system tell us that there are Kiwis who won't do particular jobs so the taxpayer has to stump up for them and their kids? The kids who will go on to be the next generation of work dodgers.
This is evidence-based fact. Treasury can show you all the relevant data. And yet decade after decade governments have failed to successfully tackle the problem. They tinker at best.
Again, it's acknowledged that some people genuinely need support but it isn't in excess of 400,000. The true level probably lies at a third of that. That claim is based on the fact that after the working-age benefit system was introduced, when values were similar and the department of social welfare properly understood its role, there was only ever 2% of the 18-65 year-old population dependent.
Today that number sits at 12.7 percent. And it's poor policy - or policy for the 'poor' - that drove it there.
At the same time there were 41,676 working age (18-65 year-old) people in Canterbury dependent on a main benefit.
Some will be unable to work due to some form of incapacity. But there are, nevertheless, just under 10,000 Jobseeker beneficiaries described as work-ready.
There are just under 7,000 sole parents on a benefit. Being a sole parent doesn't prevent the parent from working. A great many do.
Farmers or residential care homes cannot be blamed for wanting people who actually do want to work.
But the government can be blamed for running a welfare system that encourages and perpetuates idleness. A lot of the people "who are simply not willing to do some of those jobs" have never worked; come from families (a term used loosely) who have only a passing acquaintance with the notion, as did the prior generation. The welfare system sustains this lifestyle by paying generously for children and making very few demands on sole parents (who very often are only of 'sole' status for the purposes of collecting a benefit). This is the norm in certain communities.
The political response? You get a minister protecting her own patch by blaming another's. Erica Stanford feels quite free to tell the press there are people who simply don't want to work. Can Louise Upston do the same? Dare the minister in charge of the welfare system tell us that there are Kiwis who won't do particular jobs so the taxpayer has to stump up for them and their kids? The kids who will go on to be the next generation of work dodgers.
This is evidence-based fact. Treasury can show you all the relevant data. And yet decade after decade governments have failed to successfully tackle the problem. They tinker at best.
Again, it's acknowledged that some people genuinely need support but it isn't in excess of 400,000. The true level probably lies at a third of that. That claim is based on the fact that after the working-age benefit system was introduced, when values were similar and the department of social welfare properly understood its role, there was only ever 2% of the 18-65 year-old population dependent.
Today that number sits at 12.7 percent. And it's poor policy - or policy for the 'poor' - that drove it there.
Lindsay Mitchell is a welfare commentator. This article was sourced HERE
16 comments:
Coupled with the under-replacement birth rate for European NZers and the overall immigration issue, this is part of the writing on the wall for the future of Aotearoa.
Went PYO persimmons over the weekend. Orchard trees packed with ripening fruit. A real treat for family groups, especially Asians from Phillipines and China.
Talked to the owner why he opened up to PYO this year. Sad tale from him about the fact that he simply cannot get enough workers and not a matter of paying more to get them - he has tried and after a few days, the local ones did not turn up again!
So true. And why do we put up with it? Because we're stupid, complacent, and woke.
Old NZ has gone . New "woke" NZ is the country which deserves its horrible fate.
Anon at 9.19. We don't deserve that unless we are all full of apathy.
We at least have to push back against woke and stupid. What happened to standing up for ourselves?
Get some fire in ya belly. Support organisations that are fighting such as Hobson's Pledge and The Taxpayers Union.
Don't lie down and roll over especially with an election looming.
You know me . I'm the one who always insists we should always look at our progressive education system , when discussing welfare .
The current prevailing education ideology is that learning in school must be fun and entertaining .My children were told by a teacher' If you don't feel like doing something then don't do it ". Hard work is often anathema in our schools . The protestant ethic was always centered on a work ethic.
I value Lindsay's perspective which lays blame on our lax welfare system that encourages an aversion to work and encourages solo parenting and welfare dependence but I also believe blame should be placed on the ideology in schools which not only encourages laziness but also has been producing a large tail of underachievement. Those in this tail are victims of the system forced into menial tasks , given no choice. . Gaynor
Ironic (or perhaps Iconic?) scene on SH1 - that part around Otaki where the roadside is thick with dirty Tino Rangatiratanga flags among which was spotted a regular sign, simply: Orchard Workers Wanted. The farmer wanted workers, but what, really, do these other people want?
Time to experience a bit of starvation for non-workers.. ...
To Kay:1.14: they want money and power. Promised by Iwi and with the strategy set out in He Paupua. Work does not figure in this.
Reply to Anon 11.59:
The score of Left parties in November will prove the wisdom of your words - or not.
To Gaynor 1.07: Spot on. The Left has used the Education system as its major weapon to indoctrinate since the 1980s. Never corrected by National. The disastrous impact speaks for itself.
Welcome to the welfare communist state of aoteroa. Utopia for the left, racists, loonies, unemployed and woke, until it all falls to bits as everything the left touches always does. And of course they are all victims and its everyone else's fault.
PS To Anon 11.59 : Please do not preach.
Social models:
1.Productivity, aspiration, solid credentials, hard work, just rewards, correct social welfare system = successful state.
2. Entitlement, aversion to work, victimization,
cultural/ethnic superior rights, political/tribal control = failed state.
Many - really many - people are trying hard to inform their peers. The typical response is: non -committal, look away, apathetic .
So, election day = judgement day.
2040: their younger generations will pay.
It is not that simple. They do not want to work for the wages and conditions offered but immigrants accept them to get into the country because they are desperate and once in have enough initiative to improve their situation.
The position of NZ POLICE going to OZ is similar. Those apathetic enough to subsist on
welfare are going nowhere. It seems to be a kind of evolution.
How much does a person get paid to pick persimmons. Per fruit. Per hour.
Many of our problems arise from single parent homes needing welfare to survive. The majority of these are headed by women, but if we look at outcomes for children not only do they fare worse in single parent homes they fare worse in families headed by sole women than sole men. The default custody of children should be their fathers who additionally more motivated to work.
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