Just wait till they plug in the AI decision-makers!
MSD told thousands food was ‘not an essential need’:
The Ministry of Social Development has told thousands of people that food was “not an essential need”, in what it now calls an admin error …
More than 318,000 individuals – nearly 6% of the New Zealand population – asked for grants for food in 2025 alone, with the ministry paying out more than $130m. On average, each person asked for help around four times.
Nearly 6% of the New Zealand population! That's a shocking number.