Punanga Tauturu welcomes Welfare review

The Social Welfare review has been welcomed by Nane Samuel director of Punanga Tauturu Inc, a non government organsiation which assists and counsels families in crisis, particularly the women and children. Nane said PTI would like to see the introduction of ‘bridging funds’ to be made available to mothers of small children whose husbands either cannot or will not support their own families.
Some families live in shocking conditions but our authorities continue to deny there is any poverty in the Cook Islands. For instance, there are cases where the husband (legal or common law) has left his wife and young children and the mother has nowhere to turn for monetary support. Sometimes, the mother and children live in fear of a violent husband and need to leave that situation for the health and safety of mother and children but again have nowhere to turn. Other cases, the husband is unreliable (drink, drugs) but whatever the reason, the end result is that their families are not being taken care of.
She worries for the children brought up in such stricken circumstances and having very little opportunity for quality of life. Then there are the cases of the disabled persons who are receiving $150 per month which is probably inadequate for their special needs. PTI claims that problems can arise for example with a disabled child where Social Welfare will pay the disability allowance or the child allowance but not both.
Why not, she says when the child has such special needs and would need all the assistance available to enable them to have more than a bare existence?
Nane says she had no idea how large the annual social welfare budget was until now but feels the system could be more targeted to ensure that those who are most need receive the benefits. For instance, welfare recipients could be means tested – as they are in New Zealand and Australia – by means testing the recipients of higher income brackets (for all benefits).
Nane is a strong advocate of having government being compassionate and accepting their social responsibility to help take care of such families in their time of need, at least on a temporary basis and until they are on their feet and able to take care of themselves.