New information obtained by National reveals just how sloppy the design and delivery of Labour’s cost of living payment was, National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says.

“Documents released to my office under the Official Information Act reveal:

• More than 49,300 people received the payment despite not being a wage or salary earner.
• 6629 people received the first cost of living payment despite Inland Revenue knowing they had an overseas mailing address.
• An unknown number of people received the payment, despite living overseas, because no data checking occurred to see whether the address Inland Revenue held for them was up to date.

“The closer we look, the more sloppy the management of the cost of living payment looks.

“Fortunately, the Auditor-General stepped in to ensure the Government tightened up the payment for the second round. The question for Ministers now is: just how many ineligible people received the first payment and at what cost?

“Labour rushed this payment through, ignored the warnings from their officials, and now potentially millions of dollars have been wasted, on people who should never have received the payment, including French backpackers and London lawyers.

“New Zealanders have had enough of Labour’s ‘spray and walk away’ approach, with no attention to basic standards of financial discipline and control. 

“National will restore careful financial management and show due respect for hard-earned taxpayer money.”