The third and final cost of living payment is set to land in eligible Kiwis' bank accounts from today.
This payment of $116.67 brings the total received by eligible New Zealanders to $350 after instalments on August 1 and September 1.
To be eligible, a person must be a New Zealand tax resident aged 18 and over, who earns $70,000 or less per year, and who is not receiving the winter energy payment. The initiative was announced in Budget 2022 and is projected to cost $816 million.
National’s leader said Kiwis who’ve been overseas for years receiving the Government handout is a “shambles”. (Source: Breakfast)
When the measure was announced, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was about "softening the edges" for people feeling the increased cost of living and rejected suggestions the payment was a "band-aid".
There was also criticism from the National party after some some New Zealanders living overseas and a small number of dead people received it, leading to more than 30,000 people being cut off from automatically receiving the second payment.
Those Kiwis had to prove their eligibility to Inland Revenue.
National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis requested an independent investigation into the payment on August 2, to determine the scale of what the party described as an "embarrassing" mistake.
But Ardern has defended the errors, saying: "Would any payment have been perfect? I would argue, no."
It comes as 164,000 eligible people could miss out on the $350 cost of living payment. (Source: 1News)
"The most important thing to do is to support New Zealanders when they needed it most, and we've done that".
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