MSD told thousands food was ‘not an essential need'

newsletter The Ministry of Social Development is in the spotlight again after it told thousands of people that food was 'not an essential need' when declining their applications for food grants, writes Henry Oliver in today's excerpt from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. 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, 1News reported last night. Documents obtained through the Official Information Act show MSD has routinely used that reasoning to decline Special Needs Grant applications for help with food over the last six years. In total, more than 8,000 applications were declined on that basis. The ministry said that represented just 0.094% of the more than 8.5m applications processed over that period, and blamed the error on staff selecting the wrong category when processing applications. 'Where the code was entered, it does not mean the underlying decision was incorrect, but selecting this category was an administrative error,' MSD group general manager of client service delivery Graham Allpress told 1News. 'I don't believe that an admin error for so many people is reasonable' As you can imagine, the revelation has shocked community food providers. Trudy Burrows, who runs a food pantry in Christchurch, said the numbers were 'diabolical', saying 'a lot of these people have nothing left'. Nicki Dutton of the Salvation Army in Porirua told 1News: 'Telling anybody that is struggling to find enough food to eat that food is not an essential item is hard to understand. I don't believe that an admin error for so many people is reasonable.' More people being turned away The data also shows MSD has been turning more applicants away in recent years. While the overall number has fluctuated, there was a jump between 2023 and 2024, continuing in 2025. Overall, more than 88,000 applications were declined last year. 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. Allpress told 1News the ministry's eligibility criteria had not changed, but it had gradually returned to 'pre-Covid-19 practices,' and that the ministry continued to approve 94–96% of food grant applications each year. Social development minister Louise Upston did not respond to specific questions about the error, deferring to MSD's statement. She told 1News the Government had 'enabled $45 million for community food support' through Budget 2026. Pensioner left distressed It's important here to remember that behind these numbers are real people with real lives and real problems. And that the food grant error is just the latest in a series of MSD problems, some of which we discussed here last week (a review into that matter is due this week). To add to the ongoing story, RNZ's Lauren Crimp reported this morning that a pensioner Tom Evison, 84, was left distressed and out of pocket after both his Winter Energy Payment and Disability Allowance were stopped due to separate errors. Evison received a letter on 25 July (dated 21 July) telling him his payments would stop because he had not confirmed his circumstances by the deadline of 28 July. But he had already visited his local Work and Income service centre on 21 July to drop off the required documents. 'To penalise me a week earlier than the deadline was ridiculous,' he told RNZ. 'They had carried out their threat to reduce the pension, which is a worry for an old fella.' His fortnightly payment was about $200 short. MSD confirmed to RNZ Evison submitted his documents on time and his payments should not have been stopped. He was backpaid the following week. 'It's a week's groceries,' he said. 'I'm an old man, I'm not making a political statement, I'm simply pointing out a defect in a government agency threatening old people.'