Auckland Action Against Poverty - Latest News [Page 6]
Tauranga rough sleeping ban vote callous
Friday, 16 November 2018, 10:47 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Tauranga council voted in favour of a bylaw banning begging and rough sleeping within 5m of public entrances to retail and hospitality premises in Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Greerton. Auckland Action Against Poverty condemns the move by the ... More >>
HNZ does not know how many homeless due to meth tests
Monday, 12 November 2018, 7:28 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
In an interview with One News, Housing New Zealand admitted to not knowing how many people are still homeless after being evicted because of faulty meth contamination testing . Auckland Action Against Poverty condemns Housing New Zealand for their ... More >>
Poverty measurements important but action is still needed.
Thursday, 1 November 2018, 1:52 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Government’s Child Poverty Reduction Bill has passed its second reading in Parliament today. The Bill aims to establish benchmarks for child poverty rates, and entrenches the social investment approach by the previous Government. Auckland ... More >>
Privatisation of public land a broken promise by Government
Wednesday, 31 October 2018, 4:51 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
Privatisation of public land a broken promise by Government Despite the Labour Party repeatedly campaigning to stop any sales of state homes, a 8094 square metre site in Mt Albert, Auckland, is being sold by Housing New Zealand through Bayleys Real ... More >>
Meth compensation blunder cruel and shortsighted
Tuesday, 30 October 2018, 8:28 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
Housing Minister Phil Twyford recently admitted to only becoming aware last week that the compensation planned for tenants who were evicted over flawed methamphetamine testing would cause them to lose their benefit entitlements, prompting the Government ... More >>
KiwiBuild part of the problem, not the solution
Saturday, 27 October 2018, 11:59 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
MEDIA RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE USE 27/10/2018 AUCKLAND ACTION AGAINST POVERTY KiwiBuild part of the problem, not the solution The Labour-led Government ran a PR stunt today to celebrate the first few families that would move into the first 18 KiwiBuild homes. ... More >>
NZ First bill would increase elderly poverty
Tuesday, 23 October 2018, 10:46 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
A bill proposed by New Zealand First MP Mark Patterson aims to raise the minimum residency requirements to get New Zealand superannuation from 10 years to 20 years after the age of 20. Auckland Action Against Poverty warns that any restrictions ... More >>
Record numbers needing hardship assistance from WINZ
Friday, 19 October 2018, 12:40 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The latestMSD quarterly report shows that over $100 million was granted for hardshipassistance to almost 350,000 people by Work and Income in the September 2018quarter, an increase of almost $30 million from the same quarter last year. While hardship assistance ... More >>
AAAP welcomes Privacy Commissioner Inquiry into MSD
Friday, 19 October 2018, 8:55 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Privacy Commissioner has launched an inquiry under the Privacy Act 1993 into the Ministry of Social Development’s (MSD) investigative practises. This comes almost a month after Auckland Action Against Poverty released an OIA report which ... More >>
Half a million people in debt with Ministry
Friday, 12 October 2018, 9:01 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
Reports obtained through the Official Information Act revealed that as of March 2018, half a million people are in debt with the Ministry of Social Development, with the total debt being $1.5 billion. Most of the debt comes from overpayments and recoverable ... More >>
AAAP to rally at welfare consultation meetings
Friday, 5 October 2018, 4:36 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Government’s Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) is running community consultations around the country, where people are able to voice their vision for the future of the welfare system. On Monday, 8th of October, at 10am , the WEAG is having its South ... More >>
Bill risks entrenching failed Social Investment approach
Thursday, 4 October 2018, 7:42 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The National Party has come out in support of the Labour’s Child Poverty Reduction Bill, which is supposed to help the Government measure poverty better by setting measures that the Government would be held accountable to over a period of years. ... More >>
AAAP welcomes Green Party’s welfare policy
Sunday, 30 September 2018, 11:46 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Green Party launched a renewed call for welfare reform today, acknowledging that all benefit sanctions need removing and benefit levels substantially increased, which are currently below the poverty line. Auckland Action Against Poverty welcomes the ... More >>
Public housing tenancy review changes should apply to all
Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 7:44 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Phil Twyford, announced today that changes would be made to public housing tenancy reviews, exempting a set of public housing tenants from three-year reviews. While Auckland Action Against Poverty recognizes ... More >>
AAAP calls on WINZ to stop prying into people’s sex life
Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 8:37 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
An OIA report from The Ministry of Social Development shows that, in the year to March 2017, over 11,000 calls were made to a dedicated hot line enabling people to anonymously accuse beneficiaries of benefit fraud. As a result, almost 6,000 benefit ... More >>
Meth eviction compensations don’t account for social harm
Thursday, 20 September 2018, 10:27 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
Housing Minister Phil Twyford, alongside HNZ officials, announced this morning that people wrongly penalised for meth contamination in their state home are to be given compensation and a formal apology. The compensation is to be between $2,500-$3,000 ... More >>
MSD report highlights failure of jobseeker sanctions
Thursday, 13 September 2018, 10:09 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
A Ministry of Social Development report released yesterday shows that almost half of people going off the benefit returned to Work and Income within 18 months. Additionally, the report shows that a third of the people exiting a benefit are earning less than ... More >>
HNZ borrowing highlights Government’s fiscal policy failings
Friday, 31 August 2018, 1:30 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Government recently ignored advice from Treasury urging Housing New Zealand to borrow centrally to build new state homes, to avoid the high interests rates and additional risk incurred from borrowing elsewhere. The Government’s decision to ... More >>
Government’s review of Residential Tenancy Act shortsighted
Monday, 27 August 2018, 11:28 am | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The public is being asked for feedback on a set of potential amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act, which the Government claims will make life better for renters. The discussion document fails to consider the biggest driver of the country’s renting crisis, ... More >>
Government work scheme risks becoming corporate subsidy
Friday, 10 August 2018, 12:22 pm | Auckland Action Against Poverty
The Government recently announced the Mana in Mahi scheme, which aims to subsidise employers taking in 18-24 year olds who have been on the benefit for six months. The scheme will subsidise employers the equivalent to the benefit, topping it up ... More >>