Oh dear. The Minister for Social Development has shot herself in the foot again.
Last year Paula Bennett trampled all over privacy legislation when she disclosed the financial details of two beneficiaries.
But Ms Bennett has obviously not learnt anything from last years's blunder because this time she has spectacularly breached the Bill of Human Rights.
Her own Attorney General warned her that her plan to bash women on the domestic purpose benefit was discriminatory.
Christopher Finlayson couldn't have it made it more clearer.
He advised Bennett that work testing sole parents on the DPB was an unjustifiable breach of human rights.
Staggeringly Bennett has chosen to ignore Finlayson's counsel and is carrying on regardless, boots and all.
Bennett can't bluster her way out of this mess and any credibility she once had has well and truly gone.
More importantly her planned welfare reforms now stand condemnd by her own Attorney General.
So that's two strikes against Bennett. Will it be a case of three strikes and she's out?
As you said in a another post, Bennett thinks that beneficiaries are not entitled to be accorded the same respect as other people.
ReplyDeleteShe thinks its ok just to ignore their basic human rights. She has the arrogance to claim that the rest of NZ won't mind her violating the basic rights of beneficiaries.
Well, I do and I will be lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.