30 May 2018

Paula Bennett is right…. state house tenants should be compensated for state sanctioned abuse

Paula Bennett is right to say the government should compensate Housing New Zealand tenants who were evicted from their state homes unnecessarily because of bogus meth contamination standards.

In a week when the government has announced hundreds of millions to compensate farmers, many of whom are wealthy, for something which appears to be no fault of the government, Housing Minister Phil Twyford is refusing to compensate state house tenants for what amounted to state-sanctioned abuse of vulnerable families.

It’s a double standard. The government is standing behind wealthy farmers to whom it owes nothing, while refusing compensation to low income families its policies have seriously and unnecessarily harmed.

As well as being tossed out on the street, we now know that many of these hundreds of state tenants got rid of clothes, mattresses and bedding etc because, based on advice from the government, they thought their possessions were a danger to themselves and their children.

These people deserve unstinting compensation.

They also deserve a grovelling apology from former Housing Minister Paula Bennett who amped up the risk of meth contamination as a way and demonise to stigmatise state house tenants.

For heaven’s sake Phil Twyford – give these state house tenants the same hearing you have given to wealthy farmers.

ends

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