Minister accepts responsibility for MSD payment errors

Social Development Minister Louise Upston has accepted responsibility for errors that left tens of thousands of New Zealanders underpaid. The mistakes involved more than 16,270 pensioners and veterans missing winter energy payments and 14,450 beneficiaries having their main or supplementary benefits incorrectly suspended.

The issues stemmed from the Social Security (Mandatory Reviews) Amendment Act 2025, which was passed under urgency and required certain beneficiaries to confirm their circumstances annually. One error occurred because the legislation failed to explicitly exempt winter energy payments from these mandatory reviews. A second issue involved a backlog of paperwork that MSD staff could not manage, leading to incorrect benefit suspensions.

A review found that concerns were raised as early as 30 April, but senior leadership was not informed of the scale of the problem until 13 August. Minister Upston stated that the impact on some people was significant and that the delay in joining the dots was not good enough.

MSD chief executive Debbie Power took responsibility for the mistakes and confirmed that arrears have been paid. While the minister apologised for the errors, she rejected claims that the use of urgency to pass the law was the primary cause, stating the omission occurred earlier during policy development.

Where reports differ

• One report states the error affecting main beneficiaries involved more than 2,400 people, while another report states 14,450 beneficiaries were affected

Compiled from reports by Otago Daily Times, Stuff and 1News.