By: Larry Williams | Monday, September 17, 2012 6:30 PM

Benefits

The Government is introducing more welfare reforms today.

It'll see new types of benefits and require sole parents to start work.

The changes will come into force in July next year.

Three new benefit types will replace the seven current categories.

Those on the new Jobseeker Support benefit will have to be actively seeking and available for work, while sole parents will have to be available for part time work when their youngest is school age and full time when their youngest turns 14.

Already we have seen a wave of opposition to the changes - from opposition parties, to beneficiary groups, to columnists.

Now sure, this is a tougher regime that will bring some greater accountability, but it will also I think reduce welfare dependency and that has got to be a good thing.

The political opposition can go to the polls promising to unwind them if they want and let’s see how they get on.

One of the key problems the opponents have is that they have no solution themselves, beyond keeping the handouts rolling on.

 

PM and Banks

The PM continues his support for John Banks. He has not wavered since that police file was released. He hasn't read the report and he will not. Fair enough.

You see he doesn't need to read the report to know what the state of the play is. He knows that Banks was less than up front on his donations.

The PM will just have to cop it, even if he does look a bit silly in accepting Mr Banks’ word. You'd have to be blind not to see what Banks was up to. The police file clearly shows that Mr Banks has talked in riddles all the way through this. His explanation is just not credible.

Fact is though that no charges were brought against Mr Banks. He's most likely not the only to give a ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ to so called anonymous donations.

Now of course Labour is going to make a meal of this. That is what opposition parties are there to do.

But Labour needs to be careful of what is called a 'boomerang'. There are still a few issues to be sorted with respect to Labour's involvement in the Lui affair.

 

Water

So Tuku Morgan says that the PM is 'culturally ignorant' over the water. Morgan says it’s 'unfortunate'.

Yes, I suppose it is unfortunate for Morgan and the rest of those Maori who think they own the water.

You see, the PM is having none of it, and I suspect he will have the country on his side on this one.

Anytime you see Morgan's head pop up you know there's a buck to be made, and so there is in the water.

Morgan and the King can dream all they like but Maori unity is already splintering.

 

Retiring Cop

Superintendent John Kelly, who has just retired, reckons that the Government has blood on its hands because they refused to lower the drink drive limit.

He says there might have been 60 lives saved if the limit had gone from 0.08 to 0.05.

Might is a very vague word. There might not have been any lives lost because the limit stayed at 0.08.

Now I'm all for lowering the limit, but the retiring cop provided no evidence to back up his claims and it’s no good squealing once you walk out the door.

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