A 12-week form of social welfare assistance will kick in next month and take the place of Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) food packets and vouchers. Embedded within the official announcement are political tensions that have been blamed for the Government's reluctance to grant migrants social welfare benefits. Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom A $37.6m programme administered by a yet-to-be-named NGO will provide assistance to foreign nationals in hardship. “There are a number of foreign nationals in New Zealand on temporary visas who, due to covid-19, have found themselves in a tight spot. “Nearly 60,000 foreign nationals have departed New Zealand since March.

Source: Stuff June 18, 2020 04:41 UTC