Last week the Government announced a comprehensive package of welfare reforms. These reforms are aimed at breaking the cycle of welfare dependency which traps people into a life of limited income and limited choices.

The changes provide incentives for people to move off welfare and impose clearer obligations for those on welfare. The Government wants a welfare system that supports people when they are most in need, but which also encourages them to get back to work if at all possible. The world of work will always offer greater opportunities than the limitations of welfare.

The Government's package of welfare reforms demonstrates a big shifting in thinking in another way as well. It recognises the burden that people paying tax carry. A benefit can only be paid to somebody because somebody else is going to work every day, earning a wage and paying taxes. And most working New Zealanders are not themselves particularly well off. The tax that they pay could be well spent on their own families.

There is a subtle shift in attitudes to welfare here. Perhaps the most significant is the acknowledgement that there is now an expectation that in fairness to those who work and pay the tax, those who receive benefits should be making every reasonable effort to find a job and take responsibility for their families and for themselves.