Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
- The prime minister has mixed up his numbers in a TV interview about the government's welfare changes
- It marks the second misstep this week after Luxon was earlier unable to say how much a Jobseeker benefit was
- Labour says it proves the prime minister is "removed from the reality" of those in poverty
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made another flub when promoting his beneficiary crackdown, massively overstating his government's increase in case managers.
Appearing on TVNZ's Breakfast on Tuesday, Luxon referred to a significant boost in frontline staff at the Ministry of Social Development as evidence the government was doing "everything we can" to get people into work.
"We've got 4000 more phone case managers coming on stream. We've got 2100 more community job counsellors helping as well," Luxon said.
"We want to get people into work. That's what this has to be about."
But in response to questions from RNZ, the ministry said the new welfare traffic light regime was being introduced "within current staffing levels".
Further investigation revealed the numbers cited by Luxon referred not to staff, but to the number of additional people able to receive that support.
A July media release referred to a new phone-based service that would "initially provide 4000 more job seekers with case management support".
Similarly, a release in August announced an expansion of community-led employment programmes to accept another 2100 applicants.
When RNZ put this to the prime minister's office, a spokesperson acknowledged the mix-up and said Luxon gave the correct information during his interview on Morning Report shortly after.
In fact, he repeated the error on Morning Report and only corrected himself after it was highlighted by host Ingrid Hipkiss.
Labour's Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said the prime minister's comments were embarrassingly inaccurate and proved he was out of his depth.
"He doesn't know any of this stuff. He is completely removed from the reality of so many New Zealanders, particularly our poorest New Zealanders," she said.
"He cites himself as being this great businessman, but he pays very little attention to detail."
Luxon also stumbled during his interview with Morning Report on Tuesday, when asked whether he knew how much the Jobseeker benefit was.
"No, I don't, not right now," Luxon said. "I don't know the precise number."
Pushed to provide even a ballpark figure, he refused: "No, I'm not going to do that, because I want to make sure I get it right for you".
When questioned again by reporters later on Tuesday, Luxon was able to lay out the range of support available, from $260 a week through to $630.
He defended his earlier slip-up, saying: "I just told you now, so it's all fine... in the heat of an interview, I don't want to go off and not have time to explain how it all works, because it's not as simple as just a single number".
The government's long-signalled traffic-light warning scheme for the welfare system kicked into effect on Monday, setting out consequences for those who failed to meet certain requirements.
Cabinet also agreed to further bolster the regime from early 2025, requiring Jobseekers to reapply for the benefit every six months, instead of annually.
Any blemishes would also remain on their record for two years, twice as long as they do now.
Other changes include the introduction of new sanctions such as mandatory community work or money management payment cards.
