A 77-year-old woman has been told to repay $11,300 in pension money because Government border restrictions stopped her returning to New Zealand.
Rae, who asked for her surname to not be used, flew to Australia last July because her partner needed surgery there.
She says while battling to get back to New Zealand, the Ministry of Social Development stopped her pension and demanded repayment because she had been out of the country for more than 26 weeks.
Rae told RNZ reporter Gill Bonnett there were other pensioners in serious financial strife as a result of similar decisions.
