WINZ

The problem with bludgers, governments and civil servants is they think everything can be solved by the application of plenty of other people’s money.

When that coincides you get situations like this:

Work and Income is paying $2300 a week for a family waiting for social housing to stay in a motel.

Tuaine Murray, her husband and her son, who has a disability, have been living in motels for most of the year, while they wait for a Housing New Zealand property.

Ms Murray said the $2300 per week was for a unit at the Allenby Park Hotel in Papatoetoe.

Initially the money had to be repaid, but now the government is paying for it.

They were recently placed in emergency housing at the motel after stints at various other motels and the Manurewa Marae.

Ms Murray said she desperately needed a Housing New Zealand house, because they were struggling to get a private rental and were at the mercy of Work and Income.

She said the room did not have a functioning oven or a laundry. They could not go on living with these conditions and needed more stability, she said.

“We can’t really carry on doing this. It’s really hard. We’ve been doing it for such a long time … We can’t keep doing this to my son.”

The Allenby Park Hotel has been charging Ms Murray and her family a premium – the normal rate would be slightly more than $1700 a week.

Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Talk about giving Labour and the Media party a freebie…

A mother of three children was told to pack her things and vacate an Auckland motel room, after it was bought by Housing New Zealand to house the homeless.

Faith Davis had been living at the Cimarron Motel for just over a year, and was one of 11 long-term tenants staying there in an agreement with Work and Income.

Last month the government bought the motel to help ease demand for emergency housing. The tenants were told they had to move out once their leases expired.

Many found other places to live, but four, including Ms Davis, were still struggling.

“Every time I get a call back, they want a full family and not a single mum, or they want professional workers, or they want students that work,” she said.

“It’s quite annoying.”

Ms Davis was also on a waiting list with Housing New Zealand, and had since been told she would soon have a home, but said her time in limbo had been traumatic.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said none of the tenants at the motel would be forced to leave. Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Some people seem to have a bad case of Entitlitis.

Work and Income has won its legal battle against a beneficiary who bought a $3000 treadmill after seeing it on a late-night television advertisement.

Debbie Port, who was receiving support for anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome and Raynaud’s disease, wanted the treadmill to help with an ankle complaint.

In 2014 she bought it and arranged to pay it in 72 instalments.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

A bludger returns from an overseas holiday complaining he’s got no money and the WINZ offices are closed!!

A glitch in the Ministry of Social Development computer system yesterday caused delays for anyone wanting to sign on for a benefit.

An unemployed 30-year-old Dunedin man, who did not want to be named, said Work and Income’s offices had been closed for most of the Christmas holiday period, so it had been difficult for him to book an appointment to sign on for the Jobseeker Support benefit.

“I’m just back from overseas and I’m fairly broke so I need to get on to the dole to get some money.”

When he called Winz yesterday to book an appointment, he was greeted “with a long string of automated messages” and was then put on hold for 30 minutes, before an operator told him an appointment could not be made due to technical problems.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

If you are alive care of the tax payer, you need to let WINZ know if you are going for a trippy-poo overseas.  We take a dim view of you spending a week at Surfers’ on our money while we are slogging our guts out earning the taxes to pay for your lifestyle.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

The ultimate goal – no more ‘clients’ for WINZ

Beneficiary numbers are down on the same time last year although there’s been a slight increase compared with the previous quarter. Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Police owe about $40 million to current and former staff due to a payroll bungle that has been ongoing since 2009.

A source said some staff were owed close to $10,000 each but many were not even aware they had been shortchanged until recently.

Concern was rife among those who did know that to pay staff what they were owed, funds would have to be pulled from crucial areas of policing.

“Every employee over the last few years would potentially have been affected by the pay blunder,” the source said.

“Obviously only some street police staff are aware of this … To fund this, police have to find it within their existing budget meaning some services to the public may be affected.”

There are 12,000 constabulary and non-sworn police employees.

Fiona Michel, deputy chief executive of people at Police National Headquarters could not say how many were affected or exactly how much they were owed.

“It is too early to confirm the exact numbers of staff affected, the range of payments to be made or the total sum to be paid to current and/or former staff,” she said.

“Our first priority is to inform those affected staff of their entitlements before other parties. Police can confirm that the historic issues involve a significant amount of staff and money. However, to put the issue into context, the remediation total will be less than one fortnightly pay run.”

Readers will recall that the government also underpaid beneficiaries.   And what did they do there?   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

There used to be a time when someone would have looked at it and though “oh, sugar”.   

It’s not that hard to tell apart from other substances, and even just touching one grain on the tip of your tongue would have confirmed it.  

But no, these days we have to shut down the whole street and get everyone from ESR to the bomb squad to come over and decide it’s sugar.  

A sprinkling of sugar has caused a stir outside Levin’s WINZ office, prompting its building to be shut down for nearly half a day.

Emergency services were called to the office about 8.15am on Monday when staff reported a suspicious white substance had been discovered on the pavement outside WINZ’s front door.

Police say it appears as if someone came up with the hoax to get a reaction from emergency services.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

Good to know that WINZ are taking care of taxpayers’ money and making each applicant justify their position.

The fact that people think that somehow justifies the increase in violence against WINZ staff is sickening.

An Auckland man speaking from his own experience says he can understand why the number of eviction orders and assaults at Work and Income offices have risen significantly.

In the past year, 46 staff were seriously assaulted and 413 beneficiaries trespassed from offices for threatening behaviour.

The Government has attributed the sharp rise to copycat behaviour in the wake of last September’s fatal shooting in the agency’s Ashburton office, where Work and Income staff members Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland were killed and another was injured when they were shot at their workplace.

Lee Oaariki said he was recently forced to apply for a benefit when he lost his job, and it was not a pleasant experience.   Read more »

Cameron Slater

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.

He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.

Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.

To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.

http://whaleoil.co.nz

It may seem like a strange question but realistically how could WINZ have possibly anticipated and prevented the terrible attack and murder of their staff? We live in a country that does not allow us to arm ourselves in public so when we are in public and a criminal is armed we are helpless to defend ourselves. We live in a country where our Police are not allowed to routinely carry arms so if they are confronted by an armed criminal they are helpless to defend themselves and the public. We live in a country where security guards are not allowed to be armed so if they are held up by armed criminals they are helpless to defend themselves.

Given these facts how possibly could WINZ have (within the law ) taken all practicable steps to prevent the shooting of their staff?

U.S. Capitol Police officers stand guard as doors are locked down inside the Capitol Building during the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Bullet proof glass? Are we expected now to keep staff isolated totally from their ‘ clients ‘ behind bars or glass?

Bullet proof glass

Read more »

SB

If you agree with me that’s nice, but what I really want to achieve is to make you question the status quo, look between the lines and do your own research. Do not be a passive observer in this game we call life.

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To read my previous articles click on my name in blue.