John MacDonald: The community work sanction is an opportunity - Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

The Government is describing the 20 hours unpaid community work that people on the Jobseeker benefit will be made to do from today if they don’t follow the rules, as a penalty.

And there’ll be no shortage of people cheering on from the sidelines, who will also be seeing it as a penalty.

I think it’s great too. But not for the obvious reasons.

The Opposition doesn’t like it, saying it will mean people getting stuck on the benefit for longer; that it could push people into homelessness, and they’re describing the community work as “forced labour”.

The Green Party’s social development spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March is saying: “This community work sanction will leave people without homes, without food, and with worse employment outcomes. Louise Upston is making it harder for beneficiaries to find employment.”

But he needs to open his eyes a bit.

Because I