That's it. Not voting for Nat

[Guitana]

Receiving a benefit in this country shouldn't be a right it should be a privilege!
Labour started wiping the lifers off it's books by shifting them sideways onto the sickness benefit.

Doctor: What seems to be the problem?

Beneficiary: Oh bro I can't get up in the mornings and everytime I do some manual labour i get bad headaches and feel really sick!

Doctor: You seem to be allergic to any type of employment! Heres an ounce of the best dak this side of the bombay hills and two crates of Lion Red!

Everytime I get payed I'm not only supporting my family but two other families with my tax! Time for change this country needs to move ahead without the weight of freeloaders holding it down!
And I don't mean those mothers who need assistance either, and I think you'll find they are not the target of this policy.

[avgas]

Why should your pay tax so people can "sit on their fat lazy arses"? Because one day it might be you.

Nah allready been past that point before in my life, income was $150 (student loan) + 10+hours x $8/hr (before tax).
On a bad day/week where i had to call in sick i couldn't get your "benefit" as i was on casual income.
Out goings were always a minimum $175+ / week.
I was at Uni 8am-8pm, so work had to fall outside those hours. Study likewise.
You can live for about 8-10 months getting less that 5 hours sleep.
To top things off i am now paying all that money back into the system.
I hope to have a house within 10 years time, then i will look at having a kid hopefully in the next 5-10.

While i never claimed that life is easy for mums/dads (infact watching my sis become a young mum takes years off my life)..... i do believe that if you have the will, you can work 10 hours minimum a week. I would rather pay my money to see a parent get some time away from the kids everyday - getting some work skills into them.
But then again that does come down to self improvement - if you only see yourself as a parent, you will only be a parent. The job will consume you if you allow it.

[peasea]

Receiving a benefit in this country shouldn't be a right it should be a privilege!
Labour started wiping the lifers off it's books by shifting them sideways onto the sickness benefit.

Doctor: What seems to be the problem?

Beneficiary: Oh bro I can't get up in the mornings and everytime I do some manual labour i get bad headaches and feel really sick!

Doctor: You seem to be allergic to any type of employment! Heres an ounce of the best dak this side of the bombay hills and two crates of Lion Red!

Everytime I get payed I'm not only supporting my family but two other families with my tax! Time for change this country needs to move ahead without the weight of freeloaders holding it down!
And I don't mean those mothers who need assistance either, and I think you'll find they are not the target of this policy.

Well said. I've been down and broken arsed, climbed back out etc. The dole is a hand up, not a hand out, therein lies the difference. It's too easy to get and too easy to stay on.

I have a sister who was a deserving case for the DPB, abusive hubby (wanker) three neat kids, she had to walk out, she was living in fear and so were the kids.

She worked while on the DPB (just cleaning etc for a pittance) and while that might be illegal she had to do that in order to pay the bills, the DPB didn't cover it all. Nothing came from the hubby and how he got away with it I don't know. My well-heeled brother helped her heaps, so did my olds and I fixed her (small) car when required.

She lived with truckloads of hand-me-downs, scummy furniture, basic food, a crap tv and so on. It drives me nuts seeing people on the dole/DPB watching SKY, drinking piss and sitting on their arses all day.

I have no problem helping people out in tough times (or with genuine disablities) but once the able bodied are over that hurdle it has to be back to work.

[Murray]

It drives me nuts seeing people on the dole/DPB watching SKY, drinking piss and sitting on their arses all day.

Unfortunately its quite easy when you get a group of friends/mates or extended family together. I remember the case of the 15 or so people living in the same housing corp house and garage and getting over $2k in benefit payments a week.

Unfortunately making these sort of people work employed does not work. Whose going to employ someone going for a job interview wearing a bandanna or the like?? May all that will happen is that they have a life of continual training just to remain on the benefit.

Conspiracy theory here but could the Labour Govt be encouraging people to continue on the benefit and keep having kids because they know they will vote for them in the future???? Long term planning???

[peasea]

Unfortunately its quite easy when you get a group of friends/mates or extended family together. I remember the case of the 15 or so people living in the same housing corp house and garage and getting over $2k in benefit payments a week.

Unfortunately making these sort of people work employed does not work. Whose going to employ someone going for a job interview wearing a bandanna or the like?? May all that will happen is that they have a life of continual training just to remain on the benefit.

Conspiracy theory here but could the Labour Govt be encouraging people to continue on the benefit and keep having kids because they know they will vote for them in the future???? Long term planning???

I love conspiracy theories and that sounds like a viable one.

[MSTRS:Me]

Conspiracy theory here but could the Labour Govt be encouraging people to continue on the benefit and keep having kids because they know they will vote for them in the future???? Long term planning???

You want the short answer? Or the long one? Or the obvious one?
hint - they are all the same answer

[RiderInBlack]

Tell ya what if Nat wanted my vote then if anyone on ACC or Sickness Benefit was caught at criminal activity that required a degree of fitness, then they should loose ACC or Sickness Benefit and have ta work for the unemployment benefit or get a job. Had a guy growing Pot in the ranges behind my Dad's farm (Not easy country ta get to), who was on a Sickness Benefit. Can't tell me that he was not fit enought ta work.

I admire those that find time ta work, raise their kids and be there when their kids when they need them. That's one hell of an acheivement and ya should take a bow. It's hard in a World where ya need two incomes to raise a family (that was not the case once). But I do find that there are a lot of people that pass judgement on others without realising that they are only lucky that their lives have not ended up down that track themselves.

[DMNTD:Me]

But I do find that there are a lot of people that pass judgement on others without realising that they are only lucky that their lives have not ended up down that track themselves.

Dougy...I do see your angle mate however as a X sole parent and invalid beneficiary I can assure you that without a shadow of a doubt that luck has sweet f'a to do with anything.
It is called choice...

However....parents with "challenged" kids should be given a brake yet still be given training IMO.

[avgas]

She worked while on the DPB (just cleaning etc for a pittance) and while that might be illegal she had to do that in order to pay the bills, the DPB didn't cover it all. Nothing came from the hubby and how he got away with it I don't know. My well-heeled brother helped her heaps, so did my olds and I fixed her (small) car when required.

If she buys a new car, tell her to spend OVER $15,000.
My sister didn't, she was responsible and bought a newish, cheap, reliable little mazda for $3,000.
Walked into WINZ with the loan details and they told her becuase she had spent less than $15,000 on a car that wouldn't cover all of the repayments.......becuase she spent less than $10,000 that wouldn't cover ANY of the repayments.
Fucking Joke!!!!
Becuase the car was in the economical bracket (1.3L) they would not cover a fuel allowance.
FFS!!!
If she had bought a brand new EVO they would have covered the whole lot.

Like i've said before, its not a case of the system being the ultimate evil, but as someone who has experienced the lowest incomes in NZ due to trying to my family trying to make something of ourselves I'm at the point where i wish the whole thing was gone. Not to dissadvantage those that do need it - to filter off those that do not.

Lets say there was a press release saying all benefits are to be cancelled, however 400,000 living allowances positions are now on offer. Please apply via an interveiw and have monthly meetings at the WINZ office.
It would filter the assholes that just recieve a letter in the mail saying they are getting free money.....without even lifting a finger

[Forest]

I can't remember who it was that suggested it here, but I support mandatory drug tests for all people receiving state benefits.

If you want my tax dollars, you should be able to prove that you deserve them.

[avgas]

Can't tell me that he was not fit enought ta work.

He was working, illegally (for more reasons that one).
However i am very curious to see the number of solo parents/beneficiaries/ACC clients.... who make coin via trademe in NZ?????

I have nothing wrong with these people - except the fact that i pay their bills.
My father was a solo parent, who could not claim - he was living on a kiwifruit orchard.....a bussiness......with negative figures in the books for many years.

Who is more deserving, someone who finds it hard to work and look after the kids.......or someone flicking goods in cash convertors so they can buy the groceries (due to no benefit)?

My answer to this question is neither - but if you remove the benefit, they would be on a even playing field.

Darwin and all that.

[scracha]

Whose going to employ someone going for a job interview wearing a bandanna or the like??

They can cut trees, pick fruit, dig holes, remove graffiti, clean up dog shit, hold lollypops at roadworks etc. I'm sure for persistent work dodgers the armed forces would find good use for them.

Speaking as a kid from a single parent household where nobody was working...I'm all for it. I totally agree with DMNTD....kids need to see parent working.

Why the hell should any mentally sound and able bodied person under 25 be able to claim dole? It's not like they've paid into the system.

[peasea]

If she buys a new car, tell her to spend OVER $15,000.
My sister didn't, she was responsible and bought a newish, cheap, reliable little mazda for $3,000.
Walked into WINZ with the loan details and they told her becuase she had spent less than $15,000 on a car that wouldn't cover all of the repayments.......becuase she spent less than $10,000 that wouldn't cover ANY of the repayments.
Fucking Joke!!!!
Becuase the car was in the economical bracket (1.3L) they would not cover a fuel allowance.
FFS!!!
If she had bought a brand new EVO they would have covered the whole lot.

Like i've said before, its not a case of the system being the ultimate evil, but as someone who has experienced the lowest incomes in NZ due to trying to my family trying to make something of ourselves I'm at the point where i wish the whole thing was gone. Not to dissadvantage those that do need it - to filter off those that do not.

Lets say there was a press release saying all benefits are to be cancelled, however 400,000 living allowances positions are now on offer. Please apply via an interveiw and have monthly meetings at the WINZ office.
It would filter the assholes that just recieve a letter in the mail saying they are getting free money.....without even lifting a finger

Ya f*&n what?
That's the kind of b/s that my sister came up against.
She had to drop her kids at a North Shore school in a god damned Vauxhall Victor 101 (after upgrading from a Morrie Minor) then go off to (secret/illegal) work to fund the privilege with the youngest in tow.

That, however, is the tip of the iceberg. In later years, when her eldest (who had left school to work during the school holidays, looking to go full time in the next year) was a passenger in a horrific car accident she didn't qualify for ACC coz she wasn't full-time. The daughter was released from hospital and into the care of my sister who had to give up work to care for her. WTF????

Sometimes a vision of a gun springs into the grey matter.

[MisterD]

I'm sure for persistent work dodgers the armed forces would find good use for them.

Target practice springs to mind.

[Dave Lobster]

unfortunately they do
and the current system, both in nz and oz, encourages them to turn that one mistake into a lifelong career financed from the public purse

reform is necessary - compassionate reform that breaks the cycle without penalizing the minority special needs cases

NO! Sterilisation of the sort of people that have accidents they can't afford is necessary!!