Katherine Rich MP
National Party Social Services Spokeswoman

27 May 2004

Government gets it wrong

National Party Social Services spokeswoman Katherine Rich is alarmed that the Government is misrepresenting the benefits that some families will receive out of today's Budget.

"Working For Families (Fact sheet 7) suggests a Wairoa family with two children aged four and 16 would receive an extra $163 a week by 2007.

"But the Government has made an embarrassing mistake. It has failed to take into account that one of the two children will no longer be classified as a dependent by 2007.

"The figures are wrong, and the Working For Families phone help desk has confirmed it.

"It is bad enough that the Government is picking the pockets of all working New Zealanders to provide more money to only one in five households, but I think it's appalling that Labour is misrepresenting the numbers.

If the Government gets the basics wrong, how can the other figures be trusted," says Mrs Rich.

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