Why RNZ can't be trusted

This reporting is amongst the worst I have seen. And it's funded by the tax-payer.

How much beneficiaries are left with after paying the rent

"Beneficiaries are living on an average of $251 a week once they've covered their housing costs, a government report shows.

A budgeting advisor says her clients are not getting by, and every day someone seeks help with KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals to cover the basics.

The Ministry of Social Development's total incomes report showed inflation-adjusted average incomes to April last year continued to drop, from $262 in 2024 and $263 in 2023."

Here is the source table from the report:

The RNZ reporter has described 'equivalised incomes' as "average incomes".

This is a significant error.

As the government report explains:

"Equivalisation means total incomes are adjusted by family size and composition to allow total incomes to be compared across families. Different scales were used for total incomes before and after housing costs."

To explain this process further, here is a table from the latest MSD Child Poverty Report:

This is a look-up chart to convert ordinary dollars (top row)  to equivalised dollars (lefthand column) for selected households.

The shaded cell shows that a 2 adult, 2 children household needs around $52,500 to have the same purchasing power as a 1 adult, 1 child household with an income of around $32,500. Each has an equivalised income of $25,000.

So one worker supporting a partner and two children and earning $52,500 would be said to have an equivalised income of just $25,000.

You can appreciate that equivalised incomes can differ greatly from actual incomes.

Then the RNZ reporter goes on to write:

"A full-time worker on minimum wage who made minimum KiwiSaver contributions would have earned $750.96 each week after tax, during the same period."

There is absolutely no point in this comparison because that income ($750.96) hasn't been equivalised, and no housing cost has been deducted. Except for the mortgage-free, everybody has housing costs - not just beneficiaries.

Why it was mentioned isn't clear. Unless to imply that beneficiary incomes are very low by comparison and that Paul Henry makes stuff up.

He didn't and I showed why his anecdote was entirely plausible yesterday.

Returning to the RNZ report opening statement, "Beneficiaries are living on an average of $251 a week once they've covered their housing costs, a government report shows." 

Most people will take this at face value but I have just explained why that is a mistake. And if the reporter understood the difference, it's an outright misrepresentation.

Did Paul Henry deserve to be called a liar?

Last Thursday Paul Henry was in Dunedin campaigning for ACT. There were planned protests at the speaking venue and one attendee was a left-wing podcaster who took issue with a claim Paul made about how much someone on welfare was receiving. The podcaster repeatedly called Henry a liar which resulted in him being ejected from the meeting.

The matter was discussed on NewstalkZB the following day framed as a free speech issue.

But I want to focus on the claim itself.

There is some confusion over what exactly Henry said but the gist of it was that a mechanic/engineer employed in a muffler business in Palmerston North told Paul he was working six days a week and earning less than the unemployed guy next door whose partner had just had a baby. The guy had never worked and showed no interest in doing so. 

The protesting podcaster took issue retorting that a beneficiary would never get more than an employed person. That Henry was just making stuff up.

Henry himself appeared on the NewstalkZB show and said, "I certainly didn't say this person was single. My assumption actually was that this was a couple that just had a child."

An earlier texter to the show wrote, "My sister's got four kids, mate. Under 12, mate. And she gets $1,500 a week. Plus sells weed."

The host was quick to add, "We can't verify that. It's just a text."

When pressed again by the show hosts on whether Paul had checked the mechanic's claim he replied, "...yes, we've done the numbers, and it's entirely possible it's true."

So let's run some numbers.

An entry-level/apprentice mechanic wage starts around $23 to $26 per hour (training wages for registered apprentices can start lower around $19.16/hour). A qualified/General Mechanic earns an average of $30 to $43 per hour.

So the mechanic's wage for a six day week would range from $763 - $1,541 take home pay.

What would an unemployed couple with just one child receive? No need to guess or speculate.

The latest MSD report on beneficiary incomes (April 2025) shows the couple would receive, on average, $976 net. If they had two or more children that figure would rise to $1,255. These figures would have increased on April 1, 2026.

So it is entirely likely that the mechanic wasn't lying and, by proxy, neither was Paul Henry.

And conceivably, neither was the texter with the dope-selling, mother-of-four, sister.

And this is why hard-working, knackered people are angry with 'the system'. They are forced to support people who refuse to support themselves.

They daren't express their resentment because people like the Dunedin protestor shout them down as liars or shame them as 'privileged'.

Rather than suppressed, these figures need to be spread far and wide so that working people can feel on very safe ground when they question or complain about this damaging and unsustainable situation.

References

https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/research/benefit-system/total-incomes-report-2025.pdf

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1049-matt-heath-tyler-adams-af-46787368/episode/full-show-podcast-11-september-2026-343655499?viewTranscription=true