NZ Centre for Political Research

This week's poll asks:

Will the planned welfare reforms be good for the country?

*Yes, there's been plenty of talk about this but little effective action. I believe that the requirement of being of good moral character should be reintroduced.

While I am normally against the all pervading intrusion of the State in one's private life we also need to look at the situation where a solo mother on a benefit allows a male of dubious moral character to move in with her. Many cases of child assault and child homicide are linked to these individuals who are happy to cohabit with a sexual partner but have no genuine affection or concern for the children in the house.

Freedom of association I hear the lefties cry. Well, thousands of children currently being supported by the taxpayer are the results of a sort of freedom of association not to mention the damaged children who bear the consequences of such associations.

Then there are those children who no longer live. Denis

*Put welfare payments on a wind back as well - it may help some families/people realize the value of education and reduce disruptive behaviour at school - better outcomes for all. Alastair

*There are far far too many young single women on the DPB. It was meant as a stop gap and not a permanent way of receiving an income. Frank

*Unless the jobs are there and childcare takes a drastic cut in costs, this welfare change is going to set this country back years. The jobs are not there for people coming off benefits and certainly the older you are the less chance of getting hired as so many young people need work. I am so grateful to be working but many don't get that chance. Crime and abuse will climb. Benefit fraud will increase. Paula Bennett should be one of the first to know this as a former beneficiary herself. Re-structure, yes but do it right. The way they are going to do this, will fail. Jenny

*Because the real gains will come by addressing the parliamentary benefit paid to MPs and all their hangers-on. Like that will happen. Mark

*We are too poor to carry those able to help themselves. Lets have some self respect and a healthy country! Peter

*As with all socialist states hasn't gone far enough; what about maori Treaty welfare reform? All benefits are going up on April 1st announced today - great start to reform. Monica

This week's poll asks:

Will the planned welfare reforms be good for the country?

*The overhaul is long over due. Desmond

*Social Welfare has become a liscence to have kids outside of wedlock.It actually encourages it. Max

*But ONLY if they implemented in the form noted in your last paragraph. Maurice

*Let us hope that National can stay in long enough to follow it through. Barbara

*However, the reforms are too soft. The DPB should be done away with. You can choose to use contraception or choose an abortion. There's no reason to give special support to those who choose to have children on their own. Josie

*And about time. Pity they have not scaled back the DPB, give notice to recipients that they have 12 months before it is abolished, also working for families and interest-free student loans. Get some backbone, Mr. Key. Carolyn

*As well as welfare reforms, the country also needs to stop paying out for the never-ending story of "treaty settlements". Only then will MY country begin to realise its potential. Neil

*Because John Key doesn't have the political backbone to do much more than slap a watered down coat of paint over the real problem. David

*Don't go far enough. This govt wants to please all the people all the time. The status quo will always be the end result. Tony

*It will tend to make people responsible for themselves, more confident and more likely to send their children to school and monitor their learning. Rick

*Will be painful to stretch and and stand for themselves again but the pride of self reliance will be worth it in the end, not to mention easing the burden for the ones currently bearing them. The sooner we dismantle all of the unecessary crutches the stronger we will be. I salute the courage to make the start and hope they make a thorough job of it. Aaron

*A step in the right direction. However we always seem to be too timid. How about capping DPB support to one child. This would have the jmmediate effect of A reducing child poverty B reducing the population C reducing cost to the taxpayers. John

*Definite steps in the right direction but they need to be much stronger against multiple birthing to increase income. Cash incentives for sterilisation after second DPB birth would be a start. Baxter

*It's great but I imagine all sorts of "illnesses" will be found by those who really do not want to work. Delwyn

*Not only "good for thye country" but absolutely essential to the long suffering tax payer! These reforms should be but the beginning. Sarah

*Yes but they don't go far enough. Fathers should be named and required to pay. Peter

*Yes, but the requirement to work must be a key focus and there must be no welfare available for girls under 21 years of age. We must remove the temptation for young unskilled females to choose having a baby over further education and productive paid employment. There should not be a choice in this matter. We must fix this problem. As Lindsay so rightly points out, there are more options for birth control now than ever before so there is no excuse. There is also the morning after pill or as a last resort for unavoidable errors, abortion. We do not want anymore unwanted children in New Zealand. Taxpayers can no longer bear this intolerable cost burden. Dianna

This week's poll asks:

Will the planned welfare reforms be good for the country?

*The objective is sound but the means seem rigid and draconian and they are likely to create an army of bureaucrats and MSD police and not actually sove the problem. There has to be a better way of managing this epidemic Legislative and regulatory process has seldom achieved that goal. Graham

*A third generation will soon be on this out of control present system of DPB. To many children are born into a dreadful way of life, we need change. Annette

*Absolutely - better than good...freeing in all respects. Margaret

*Yes, a step in the right direction; but more steps must come! Frank

*SOOOOOO LONG OVERDUE!!!!!! Andy

*Obviously yes, but there will be a loophole somewhere. For example, there could be planned pregnancies on an annual basis. Ron

*The system is out dated, making people apply every year has my vote. Natalie

*Compulsory birth control for welfare recipients would be a good idea too. Tim

*The various 'election bribes', starting from the days of the Kirk government, is the main reason that NZ is sliding down the scale of 'liveability' standards; not to mention the decline in social, community and moral standards. Bob

*Only a fool would think that the current system is working. John

*Welfare & prisoners are treated far better than super annuatints who have worked all their life without breaking the law. Crime in NZ does pay & very well. Ian

This week's poll asks:

Will the planned welfare reforms be good for the country?

*We certainly don't need or want a constitution which gives preferential treatment to one group, i.e, Maori, over envy one else. Laurence

*Not given the racially based outcome anticipated. Bruce

*This is a no brainer. Kerry

*The reforms may harm some people who in no way deserve it. Prue

*Without doubt! Anything that Ms.Sue Bradford thinks to be shocking must be good for the country. Some months ago a female associate of one of the gangs was asked by a T.V. interviewer to define her role therein. Her reply was quote "All we are - are breeders unquote. Any measure that liberates women from this situation mst benefit them, their children, the country and the planet. Peter

*But more reforms are required. Alex

*The new reforms on welfare would surely be a huge step in the right direction to reduce the entrenched and growing dependency.
(Can't the politicians and other "fat-cats" see that "the light in the tunnel" is the train coming & not the end of the tunnnel.

The current socialist program creating and maintaining ever deepening dependency by ever increasing numbers cannot be sustained.

The reforms suggested are not the end of the road. They are not the final solution, but are a good plan to change for the better. From there it needs to grow and encourage people to get back to working to support the country. It should encourage family units with both "natural" mom-dad parents - which has long been shown to be the overall best environment in which to bring up children.

The penalties for those that wish to sponge on the taxpayers should be harsher!

Taxpayers-Unite!! Do all us taxpayers want to be forced to use our hard earned wages to support those who willingly wish to sponge on us and deliberately not study or work?!?!

Talk of descrimination, talk of unequality, talk of extortion, talk of exploitation!!

Where are OUR basic human rights?

Where are the basic OBLIGATIONS of those who deliberately (or carelessly) get pregnant for sake of not having to work! Not to mention all those able people who CHOOSE to sponge on the taxpayers so they themselves can be lazy and not work.

Where's the justice in all that?!? Walter

*What about the fathers of all these dependent children. Surely a mother should be forced to name the father of her offspring. If not - no benefit. Fathers not contributing to the maintenance of their child should be treated as criminals and fined or jailed. Don

*I think its time that the Govt looked at working for the dole. Winston Peters idea I believe. A bit of self esteem isn't a bad thing! Councils obviously dont have the funds to keep our streets and roadways clean and tidy. Sue

*Long overdue! Barbara

*A brave move which will benefit all. Vivian

*ANY change to welfare would be good for the country (except the changes the Green’s and Labour want) needs to be done slowly though as removing too much welfare at one time will have a significant impact on pokey dens, liquor outlets and drug dealers, not to mention KFC and McDonalds, P.S. I had a car accident a while ago, I didn’t get hurt but I now suffer PTS from time to time, I wonder if I could get an ACC payout and continuing emotional support, and the required legal aid to pay my blood sucking lawyer. John

*The DPB policy is a "lesser-of-two-evils" policy. Splitting mums from kids at age of 1 may have proven connections to anger and personality disorders, but from the commentary appears to be a lot less damaging than the results of entrenched welfare dependancy. The biggest side-effect may be in a generation's time when population decline sets in in our workiing-age population. The DPB has created an artificial stimulation in our birth rate numbers compared to the rest of the developed world. Economically, we may now lose that competitive advantage, but it ought to be worth it if it spares us the problems of cyclical welfare dependancy. Martin

*Any reform is well overdue!! Geoff

*Finally, a step in the right direction. However it will be desirable to have multi political party support to avoid the scenario whereby a changed govenment could revert to something akin to the present status quo for reasons of vote catching or political beliefs. Peter

This week's poll asks:

Will the planned welfare reforms be good for the country?

*The planned reforms sound that they are going in the right direction but I hope they turn out to be more than just lip service. Remember a few years ago when Labour introduced "Jobs Jolt" to stop people living in remote areas where there are no jobs - it sounded great but nothing actually happened! Pat

*It's about time a government cracked down on welfare. It has been running out of control for years and taxpayers have been forced to pay. I for one have always objected to paying gang members - they should be forced to clean up their act and work for a living like everyone else. Michael

*It is disappointing to see that National hasn't reformed the DPB properly. Of all the benefits that's the one who needs to be changed as a priority. It is responsible for so much family breakdown it is a scandal. Rebecca

*Welfare has become a scam for so many people who could be working. Money is given out too easily and there are no real requirements to get a job. I will believe these reforms are an improvement when I see the results. Until then it could be just talk. Phillip

*It's about time someone started thinking about the children. The evidence has been around for years that kids do poorly on welfare yet no government has done more than pay lip service to change. I'm not sure whether National's reforms are in that category or not. The fact that they didn't go to a single benefit makes me think that they are not going to make the difference that we would have hoped. Susan

*About time! Pete

*NZ can never get ahead unless we turn welfare back to being a helping hand in times of need. I'm not sure that National has the courage to go that far. I hope they do and as part of that abolish the DPB to provide support through other means. Jim