The food vouchers were meant to help people who were not eligible for Government subsidies. However, the father was in New Zealand on a working visa and found he wasn t eligible for Government support during lockdown.
The Santos family say Jeffrey s offending was caused by his ignorance over the law, and would not reoccur. The offence occurred during the COVID-19 alert level 4 lockdown period when his income was halved, and he was desperate to provide for his family, reads the tribunal decision. The husband and the wife deeply regret the husband s offending.
Brooke Stanley Pao, coordinator at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), says current benefit levels and government support for migrant communities force people to break the law so they can provide for their families.