A child poverty advocate says the Government should apologise after the Ministry of Social Development told thousands of people that food was "not an essential need", blaming it on an admin error.
Figures obtained by 1News through the Official Information Act revealed that the number of rejections for special needs grants for urgent and essential emergency costs was increasing.
The reasoning used by MSD to decline applications was also revealed – with more than 8000 rejected on the basis that food was non-essential.
Exclusive: MSD describes food as ‘not an essential need’ in denying special needs grants – Watch on TVNZ+
The Ministry said this was caused by an "administrative error" in which the wrong option had been selected, but maintained that it did not mean the underlying decision was incorrect.
On Breakfast this morning, Child Poverty Action Group’s food security spokesperson Kelly Garton called for an apology.
"They're saying it's an administrative error. It's happened 8000 times. Regardless of whether it was an error, I think an apology is needed for those people who are struggling.
"They're just trying to get by – they're in emergencies, and they're being told that it's not an immediate need. The Government needs to make amends for this."
The Ministry of Social Development told some that “food was not an essential need”. (Source: 1News)
She said: "Adequate food is a universal basic human right."
More than 88,000 applications for special needs grants were declined last year – with a jump from 2023 to 2024, continuing into 2025.
More than 318,000 individuals, nearly 6% of the New Zealand population, asked for food grants in 2025 alone.
On average, each person asked for help four times, resulting in a total of 1.4 million applications in 2025. The majority were accepted, with MSD paying out more than $130 million last year.
Other reasons why applications were rejected were because the person "did not have an immediate need" or that they had "caused or contributed" to their immediate need.
Garton called some of this reasoning "insulting".
"It doesn't seem fair to me. That seems like some very subjective criteria that someone sitting in an office, without knowing anything about a person's circumstances, can just say, 'Oh, yeah, we don't think you might not have an immediate need, or that you could have foreseen these circumstances'."
Both the Ministry and the Minister, Louise Upston, declined interview requests with Breakfast and 1News.
"I do think she needs to be fronting up," Garton said. "She's implemented a number of punitive welfare reforms in the last couple of years, going against expert advice, so it really comes as no surprise that food insecurity has been increasing, and she should have to front up to this."
Upston defended the Government's record in a statement, saying it had enabled $45 million for community food support to assist those with the highest need.
“MSD continues to provide Special Needs Grants for food to hundreds of thousands of eligible New Zealanders."
She said the Government had also made an additional $7 million investment for community food providers, such as food banks, in 2026/27, as well as additional funding for schemes providing Breakfast to children.
Garton said it was not enough to meet the current need.
"If you look again at the things that have been happening in the background of our economy, clearly the need has increased.
"The support needs to increase, and food banks are great for emergencies, but it's not a strategy. We need to be doing better."
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