Beneficiary tells of fear and stress

Press, 8 December 1987, Page 9

Beneficiary tells of fear and stress

One social welfare beneficiary told a meeting of more than 100 people last evening that he was too scared to watch the television news.

The man, replying to a question about how stress affected beneficiaries, said he could no longer watch the news because he was too scared to see what the Government wsa going to do next. The public meeting was called by The Christian Family Movement Solo Parents’ Support Group to discuss several issues that had upset beneficiaries. These included big tax bills recently received by beneficiaries for overpayments of Family Support, cuts in the accommodation benefit, and problems with communication between beneficiaries and the Social Welfare and Inland Revenue depart-

ments. The meeting was told by Ms Anne Gorton, from the family movement, that cuts in the accommodation benefit were creating a poverty trap. “It’s inappropriate to take cost-cutting measures against low income families,” she said. Another spokeswoman from the movement, Mrs Alison Weir, said that communication between Government departments was almost non-existent. “For beneficiaries this can be most frustrating as they are passed from one department to another when seeking correct information” The Inland Revenue

Department’s assistant district commisioner of operations in Christchurch, Mr Tony Black, told the meeting that the department could not give blanket exemption to beneficiaries who had received big tax bills because of Family Support overpayments. He urged them to approach the department to discuss their position. If repayments could not be made, the department had the power to waive all or part of the bill. Mr Black, and the acting director of the Social Welfare Department in Christchurch, Mr Cliff Money, said that people who were not satisfied

with the service they received from department staff should approach them personally. The Government member of Parliament for Sydenham, Mr Jim Anderton, urged beneficiaries to tell their elected representatives their concerns. He told them to “front up” at the offices of members of Parliament and use the service of representation that was available to them. Mr Anderton said that it was not only beneficiaries who were getting “hammered” by Government policies but all lowpaid workers.