March 07, 2023
Fast track call for WINZ cyclone help
Auckland Action Against Poverty wants to see a high-trust model in Work and Income offices dealing with people affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Spokesperson Brooke Stanley Pao says the model was used for wage subsidies and Covid relief payments during the pandemic when Finance Minister Grant Robertson said communities needed money straight away.
“There weren’t a lot of questions asked. You called up and let them know what’s happened to you and they just took your word for it, basically and it got to the community straight away. It was a really easy process,” she says.
Ms Stanley Pao says people are waiting for a long as two hours for their call to WINZ to be answered.