Dear Metiria,

 I was like you once…I was a single mother on the DPB. But that is where the similarity ends.

 Unlike you, I was married to the father of my children, and unlike you I told WINZ who the father of my children was.

 Unlike you I did not steal from the New Zealand tax payer and lie to WINZ by not declaring income.

Unlike you I didn’t blame WINZ for “making me poor” as you did. I blame myself for my poor choice of husband and my subsequent decision to leave him.

Unlike you I am grateful to WINZ and for having the DPB to help me in my time of need, and for the ability it gave me to improve my life and those of my children.

Unlike you I managed my finances in such a way that I was able to run a modest home and care for my children without resorting to lying, cheating and defrauding the system.

The incongruence of simultaneously studying law while breaking the law is breathtaking, and characterizing all beneficiaries as liars and cheats by saying “everyone does it” is an insult to all honest beneficiaries. I am neither a liar or a cheat yet you have told the world I am. No Madam, you are the liar and the cheat. Do not try to justify your moral bankruptcy by heaping blame on others.

On behalf of all honest, law abiding beneficiaries, you disgust me.

-Name withheld by request