Judith Collins MP
National Party Welfare Spokeswoman

12 April 2007

Benson-Pope fudges on 'clusters'

"David Benson-Pope needs say whether it is him or his department that is misleading the public over the long promised work on 'beneficiary clusters'," says National's Welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins.

Ms Collins is referring to a report in the Dominion Post today which revealed that 'nearly a year after the Government promised a crackdown on clusters of beneficiary households, officials have admitted no reports or statistics were ever produced about the size of the problem'.

Ms Collins says Mr Benson-Pope is now using sophistry to cover up the fact that his department 'does not hold any reports, statistics, discussion papers or briefing papers on beneficiary clusters'.

"The reality is that Helen Clark specifically asked Mr Benson-Pope to look into 'beneficiary clusters' and unless his department has lied to the media, that work has not been done.

"Is Mr Benson-Pope now saying his department got it wrong, despite taking three months to respond to a newspaper's Official Information Act request?

"Either the Ministry of Social Development has this information - in which case the department has misled the newspaper - or they don't, which would raise serious questions about Mr Benson-Pope's response today.

"Which is it Mr Benson Pope?"

ENDS

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