The Green Party pledges that artificial intelligence and automated decision making will not be used for payment decisions in the welfare system, such as cancelling, suspending, or reducing welfare payments, or imposing benefit sanctions when it is in Government.

Today’s report by the Ministry of Social Development shows that over 14,000 people had their payments wrongfully suspended as a result of legislation introduced and passed under urgency by Louise Upston. 

The Green Party is calling for compensation for people who have experienced hardship, debt, hunger, or homelessness from the welfare cuts caused by processing delays due to the Government’s Mandatory Review policy.

After the Greens exposed that main benefits were wrongfully cut due to processing delays as part of Louise Upston’s rushed laws, the Minister is refusing to apologise or give clarity over the error, passing the blame to her Ministry instead.

The Green Party says the Government’s changes to Jobseeker benefit eligibility for young people will cut support for thousands of disabled, injured and sick young people.

The Green Party commits to regulating debt collection and banning attachment orders against beneficiaries, following FinCap’s finding that their clients’ debt has surged to almost a billion dollars.

The Green Party says this Government has nearly halved funding for food banks in Budget 2026, extending the $15 million in annual support for just one more year before cutting it to $8 million a year from 2027, at the very moment demand has never been higher.

The Green Party is condemning the Government's move to hand decisions on benefits over to automated systems, warning it will leave more people in hardship without the support they are legally entitled to.

The Green Party is warning that the Government’s changes to public housing will see more public housing tenants evicted and driven deeper into poverty.