28 June 1999

Media release

Labour insists on sticking to it's policy of being soft on benefit crime, despite massive public support for the Government's campaign to reduce benefit fraud, said Roger Sowry, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income.

"Mr Maharey is mistaken when he says these figures include accidental overpayment. The $17 million of taxpayers money this campaign found was all taken fraudulently - an average of $9000 per case for more than 1800 people."

"It seems Mr Maharey's objections to the benefit crime advertising campaign were completely baseless, as were the other five complaints which were not upheld by the advertising standards organisation."

Mr Sowry said it was typical of the Labour/Alliance bloc to stick to this soft-on-crime policy when independent research showed 92% of people feel benefit fraudsters should be punished, and 77% were concerned that benefit crime is a serious problem for New Zealand.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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