Video: Cyclone Gabrielle community advocate says WINZ has claimed she has been selling food online
A Hawke's Bay community advocate who cooked hundreds of meals a day in the months after Cyclone Gabrielle says Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) has alleged that she has been selling food online.
However, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) says they have not made any allegations about her volunteer efforts in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Until October last year, Neeracha Rattanaworametha, affectionately known as Neela Neela, had been receiving weekly compensation from ACC after a car crash while working as a security guard in January 2020 meant she was unable to be in full-time employment.
The decision, based on an assessment by an ACC specialist which stated her injury is "not preventing her from being able to do the job she had when she was injured", is one Neela Neela is fighting and says was given due to the language barrier.
Neela Neela moved from her home country of Thailand to New Zealand in 2012.
As a result of the ACC decision, she defaulted on four rent payments to a total of $1480. From late November last year, she was able to receive Jobseeker Support payments, with a weekly shortfall of $238.59.
Then in January, her weekly rent of $370 increased to $425.
This week, Neela Neela took to her Facebook, where she has documented her community cooking since February last year, to ask people to write letters of support. She has since received more than 20.
Speaking to Hawke's Bay App, Neela Neela, at times emotional, said she has given "everything" to the community, using $30,000 of her savings, along with donations from community members and businesses to fund the free community meals she cooked for eight months.
"I spent all of the donated money and my personal money cooking food for people and couldn't afford rent because ACC stopped paying me my weekly allowance and chronic injuries after a car accident three years ago.
"I feel shamed by my recent interactions at WINZ. I was accused of making money dishonestly from selling Thai food when I have only given everything to people in need. I have not hidden income. They bully me."
ACC acting deputy chief executive for service delivery Warwick Thorn said they have supported Neela Neela to recover from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident in 2020.
"In June last year, Neeracha advised her vocational rehabilitation provider that she was working as a volunteer for 30 hours a week cooking meals and was fit to go back to work.
"To ensure she was fully ready to return to work, we asked for an assessment with an occupational physician – with the support of a translator – and an assessment with an eye specialist.
"They also confirmed Neeracha was able to return to work, and we let her know that, as a result, her weekly compensation payments would be stopped."
Neeracha has asked for an independent review of this decision. While there was a Thai interpreter on the telephone during the assessment, she was not happy with how her statements were being interpreted.
Thorn says they can also reconsider a claim decision based on any new medical information that can be provided.
After enquiries by Hawke's Bay App to MSD and ACC on Thursday, Neela said later that day that "everything had changed".
"They came to me and checked everything. And that everything approved. I don't do anything wrong."
However, she is still requesting an apology.
MSD Regional Commissioner Karen Bartlett told Hawke's Bay App they "remember and appreciate what Neela did after the cyclone".
"Unfortunately, some posts on social media have been misleading or inaccurate. We have not made any allegations about her volunteer efforts in the aftermath of the cyclone.
"Our staff have not bullied Neela. They have asked her to provide the same information we require from everyone who applies for a benefit payment."
Bartlett says Neela has received Jobseeker Support payments since late November last year, "along with other regular payments to assist her with specific costs".
"There are things that everyone must do if they receive these payments. For example, Neela must tell us about any income she receives and any assets she owns, including property overseas."
In order to process the one-off Rent Arrears Grant, Neela Neela is applying for, Bartlett says they need her to provide information about her income and assets.
"We have asked Neela to declare any income earned since she started receiving benefit payments in November, and to provide details about any property she owns in New Zealand or overseas.
"We will continue to work with Neela to make sure she understands the support she may be eligible for, and the obligations that come with it."
