Turei confirms she was a welfare fraudster

The Herald reports:

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei has admitted she once lied to authorities to keep her benefit.

In her biggest speech of the year, Turei made the extraordinary confession while announcing her party’s plans to dramatically reform New Zealand’s welfare system.

Speaking at the Green Party AGM in Auckland, she said that while she was receiving the domestic purposes benefit as solo mum in her 20s she had extra flatmates who paid rent but she did not tell WINZ.

“I knew that if I told the truth about how many people were living in the house my benefit would be cut,” she told an audience of around 250 Green members at the Auckland University of Technology.

So Turei’s message is it is all right to lie to the Government if you think you need or deserve more money.

By her rationale it is fine for struggling business owners to lie to the IRD about their tax liability if they think they need more income.

“And I knew that my baby and I could not get by on what was left.

“This is what being on the benefit did to me – it made me poor and it made me lie.”

No the benefit did not make you lie. You chose to.

This is the future co-Deputy Prime Minister. Someone who endorses welfare fraud and thinks that taxpayers are a bottomless pit.

Is there a statute of limitations on fraud? If someone complained to the Police and they prosecuted, then Turei would be expelled from Parliament if found guilty.