Fast in protest over cut

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 6

Fast in protest over cut

A solo mother, Mrs Shona Arnold, of Shirley, will begin a fast this morning in protest against a reduction in her domestic-purposes benefit of more than $2O a fortnight. She receives $193 a fortnight at present. Mrs Arnold, who has received the benefit since last October, when she and her husband separated, received a letter from the Department of Social Welfare on Saturday telling her of the cut.

She said that as a result, she would be unable to save

money to pay for large bills: such as electricity for which | she usually put aside $lO a week. The cuts would also mean difficulty in paying for a washing machine, floor coverings, and a refrigerator she had bought on time payment after moving into a State house earlier this year, i “If I had known this was! going to happen I would never have bought them.”! said Mrs Arnold. Mrs Arnold, who has a son aged seven, said she had also been trying to save for a table and chairs. She has none at present. I

i She was posting the letter! [from the department and a] 12 copy of her own budget to N a friend who was travelling I v to Wellington later this If week to see the Minister of Social Welfare (Mr Gair). S She did not know how i: long she would fast but was r [confident of holding out for c [some time. She was not a member of ( I any of the local beneficiaries’ r groups which had been < formed to protest against s [benefit cuts announced in r [ the Budget. . “I didn’t realise the Budget 1 would affect me,” she said. c

The cut in Mrs Arnold’s benefit results from the recent passing of the Social Welfare Amendment Act, which changed the criteria for additional benefits. In Mrs Arnold’s case the $l4 a week she pays in rent is below the $l6 minimum needed to qualify for additional assistance. The assistant director (pensions) for the Department of Social Welfare in Christchurch (Mr A. Ritchie) said last evening that the new act was applied to beneficiaries when their benefits came up for annual review.