Brash, Shelford Propose "Fight for the Dole" Scheme

March 2003

wellington - Two well-known New Zealanders from very different walks of life have united to come up with a new scheme aimed at addressing the social welfare burden crippling our society. Former Reserve Bank Governor and new National Party finance spokesman Don Brash has teamed up with hard-nosed former All Black captain and North Harbour coach Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford to develop a new policy being dubbed “fight for the dole”.

The scheme combines aspects of the work for the dole policy developed by the previous National/New Zealand First Coalition Government and floated on a number of occasions by Brash, and the successful Fight for Life series, in which celebrities and former sports stars take to the ring to raise funds to combat youth suicide.

Under the proposed policy, unemployed people will be required to show up every Monday at their local boxing ring, where they will be paired off against a suitable opponent. Bouts will take place over three rounds under amateur rules, and will be adjudicated by three officials from the Ministry of Social Development. Victors will be awarded the unemployment benefit.

"It doesn’t stop there though" says Brash. “Unlike your regular state handout schemes there will be a series of incentives aimed at rewarding people for entrepreneurial attitudes and encouraging them to better themselves. We’re looking at establishing local mini-tournaments, in which the victors will have the option of proceeding to the next round to fight another bout. Tournament winners will receive a significant prize, such as a community services card.”

“The great beauty of this programme will be that it will finally put to rest the misconception that work for the dole schemes are somehow punitive", says Brash. "That’s not what it’s about at all. It’s about giving people a sense of self-worth and helping them realize their potential”.

“In the future someone receiving the unempolyment benefit will know that they have outpointed their opponent through a combination of elusive movement and an accurate jab, or simply unleashed the raw power to end the bout by knockout. They’ll have a quiet feeling of satfisfaction, knowing that they’re a winner. This, together with the bruises, bloodied nose and gradually cumulative brain damage, is something no one can ever take away from them”.

While reserving his judgement until he sees the scheme in action, Shelford is also happy to be working to put something back into the community. “Fight for Life has shown us that, although many of the traditional support networks in our modern society have been lost, deep down people still really care, about seeing blokes get the crap beaten out of them. For those disturbed youth who feel like they’re alone, rootless, and without a sense of purpose, it gives the message: don’t worry – you can still slug your way out of trouble”.

“We hope we can spread that message throughout communities that are caught in a cycle of dependency and plagued by problems such as domestic violence”.

If successful, says Brash, the scheme will be extended to other benefits, beginning with the Domestic Purposes Benefit. He also sees no reason why sports other than boxing should not play a part in efforts to drag New Zealand out of its cycle of dependency. “I’ve already had overtures from professional wrestling circles about whether they can be involved, and I must say I’m quite I’m quite excited about the potential", he says. "I mean, two domestic purposes beneficiaries going at it in a wrestling ring – who wouldn’t want to watch that?”

With enough publicity and public interest, the scheme could eventually become self-funding and even turn a profit. While acknowleding this as a long-term goal, Brash is unusually reticent about the prospect of a welfare system revolution that could reverse the impact of our welfare burden and send New Zealand hurtling back up the OECD league table. “I haven’t looked that far into the future", he insists. "I do think it would be good, though, if we could find a way to work in unarmed combat with tigers somewhere”.

One concern that has been raised is the question of what will be done about the losers of bouts, who will not therefore qualify for the unemployment benefit. However, for anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in this situation, Buck Shelford has some simple words: “You’d better put in the hard yards, hadn’t you boys?”.