Te Utu Tika Hei Oranga I Aotearoa, Basic Income New Zealand, supports the call by Hapai Te Hauora, the largest Maori public health collective in Aotearoa, for a Basic Income for all New Zealanders. Hapai Te Hauora includes a Basic Income as part of their vision for community wellbeing. A Basic Income would confer upon all New Zealanders the right to live and be well.

As advocates for a Basic Income, Te Utu Tika Hei Oranga I Aotearoa, welcomes the increase in welfare rates in the 2021 Government Budget. This will help relieve poverty for those on the lowest incomes in New Zealand. Relieving poverty is essential for "wellbeing and personal dignity", and for a transformative New Zealand economy.

But, is this Budget transformative? It is a nudge but does not come near to implementing the recommendations of the 2019 Welfare Expert Advisory Group's report.

Those on the lowest incomes will spend their additional income on essentials which will boost the incomes of local business, support regional development and increase government tax revenues. This makes the increased benefits largely self-funding.

The increased threshold before welfare payments begin to abate will allow people on welfare increased access to work to supplement their incomes. However, the threshold is not high enough and needs to be increased significantly to allow people greater access to work.

Thresholds have not been increased in recent years and have fallen well behind inflation making the poverty trap worse. This is a catch-up rather than a significant improvement. Thresholds should be increased every year in line with inflation and abatement rates reduced to eliminate poverty traps. Iain Middleton, spokesperson for Te Utu Tika Hei Oranga I Aotearoa says:

"It is concerning that the abatement rates remain unduly high. People working and earning beyond the threshold face an initial effective marginal tax rate (EMTR) of 80.5% which is considerable higher than the EMTR of 33% or 39% that medium to high income earners face. Why should those on the lowest incomes face the highest EMTRs? We call on the government to raise the thresholds further and reduce the abatement rates to eliminate poverty traps. The introduction of a Basic Income for all New Zealanders would eliminate poverty traps and the need for Job Seeker support payments."

Basic Income has consistently been shown to enhance the movement of people from unemployment to full time employment while boosting local businesses and regional development. Basic Income trials in other countries have shown good outcomes for health, education, violence reduction, and the recognition that family care is valued. The trials have also shown that people make good decisions for themselves and their families.

The security of a consistent Basic Income gives freedom of choice and self-direction. Constant surveillance of work arrangements and personal circumstances is oppressive. Those in paid work are not subjected to such oppressive intrusion in their lives. With a Basic Income, the present paternalistic and punitive Social Welfare system is replaced with a simpler more humane system.

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