AG's 'damning' report forces changes to govt's cost of living payments

Revenue minister David Parker has tightened the eligibility screening for cost of living payments after concerns were raised by the auditor general. (Image: Getty)

Jem Traylen

Mon, 29 Aug 2022

Controller and auditor general John Ryan says more care should have been taken to ensure the cost of living payments were only paid to eligible people.On Tuesday, Ryan released a letter he wrote to the head of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) which said good stewardship of public money required greater care when designing and implementing the payments – ensuring that the criteria were clear and the data used by IRD was adequate.Also on Tuesday, the government announced it would be “refining” the screening tests for eligibil...

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