Turia still off the mark on welfare

Yesterday Tariana Turia was speaking in Flaxmere;

"I'm opposed to the dole. I don't think it is healthy for the spirit of our people, to be getting money for doing nothing."

Good. I agree.

But in May she had this exchange with Gordon Campbell;

Campbell: You’re saying welfare is bad for Maori, so we have to break the cycle by introducing a compulsory element -

Turia : We’re talking Maori unemployed. We’re not talking about Maori women on benefits.

There are 7252 Maori on the dole. Around two thirds are men.

However, there are around 73,000 Maori on other benefits. I estimate almost two thirds are women, most on the DPB.

There is a very clear line in Turia's mind between being paid to 'do nothing' without kids and being paid to do nothing with kids. So the message is clear. If you want to be paid to do nothing, make sure you have a child who is dependent on you. Hence the disproportionate incidence of child neglect amongst Maori. That neglect gives rise to later problems like learning difficulties, truancy, early pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse and problems with the law. (None of which is exclusive to Maori but Tariana talks exclusively about Maori).

I cannot take her seriously until she acknowledges that the problem of welfare extends beyond just the dole and Maori men.

If it was only the dole causing the kind of social dysfunction experienced disproportionately by Maori then matters would have improved dramatically over the past decade. They haven't.