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Archive for the ‘poverty’ Category

Feeding our kids

Posted by David Cunliffe on February 6th, 2012

$4.28 is less than I paid for the latte I just drank.

That is how much Craig and Carla Bradley can spend to feed each of their kids each day.

After rent, power, petrol and bugger all else.

Thank you to Simon Collins for his excellent reality check on inequality in Auckland in today’s Herald – see Trevor’s post below.

Equally sobering: a “comfortable” family – Anita and Nigel’s – on $150k (an MP’s salary) is close to the top 10% of NZ households. 

Fact is, we live in a poor and divided country.

So our constituency is not just the so-called ‘underclass’; it is most New Zealanders.

No-one wants to be poor. 

Every Kiwi kid deserves good fresh food, a few treats and trips to the beach.

Being poor is grinding and demoralising. 

It takes all your time; and your gut turns when your kids go without.

Most parents strive to do their utmost. 

There is unbelievable sacrifice and heroism all around us.

But most people don’t see the point in politics – they are too busy just living.

Despite this, a  gap this big between the 1% and the rest cannot stand.  It never has…

The change we want is that of Mickey Savage and the New Deal.

Not extremism, or racism; or God forbid, another ‘Great’ War.

So we must be relevant to New Zealanders’ daily struggles:

Feeding our kids; caring for our sick and old;

Making sure there are good schools and jobs for our young;

Looking after our living earth;

Seeking out those doing good stuff in our communities and working with them.

Humble enough to know we don’t have all the answers, because no-one does…

…and going on anyway.

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Filed under: Fair Share, Uncategorized, economy, family, inequality, poverty
125 Comments

Herald on Auckland’s income disparity

Posted by Trevor Mallard on February 6th, 2012

Simon Collins has a useful article in today’s Herald. I look forward to the rest of the series and especially whether Key has the guts to try and make the solution to New Zealand’s poverty multipartisan in an attempt to get buy-in that lasts beyond this government. We all know that there isn’t a short term fix. :-

Auckland has changed from an equal city to an unequal one in less than a generation with the income gap between rich and poor widening dramatically over the past 25 years.

Whereas most people’s incomes were bunched tightly around the average in 1986, the spread has become increasingly vast, according to data prepared for the Herald by Statistics New Zealand.

Not only is the gap steadily increasing, but so too is the number of people who do not have enough money to eat.

The super-rich – such as the Chrisco hamper company owners who rented their $30 million Coatesville mansion to Kim Dotcom – have built sprawling homes on a scale the city had never dreamed of in the 1980s.

At the other extreme, food charity was unheard of in New Zealand, outside a tiny minority served by inner-city soup kitchens, until welfare benefits were cut in 1991.

Filed under: poverty
5 Comments

Give a Good Book this Christmas

Posted by Trevor Mallard on December 5th, 2011

During the campaign I worked with some wonderful people who in their “spare” time have set up an organisation that will help change the world. Have a look. Here is what they say :-

The GoodBooks model is simple: Every time anyone buys a book through the GoodBooks online bookstore, 100% of the retail profit from the sale goes to support communities in need through Oxfam projects.

So when you choose from our selection of over 2 million books, you know that you are contributing to improving the quality of life of those living in extreme poverty.

GoodBooks now has the option of gift vouchers and even gift wrapping – as well as free shipping anywhere in the world.

Visit www.usegoodbooks.com to find out more about the GoodBooks philosophy and help turn the page on poverty this Christmas

.

Filed under: poverty
4 Comments

Foodbanks and the Underclass

Posted by Grant Robertson on October 18th, 2011

There have been lots of reasons to feel proud to be a New Zealander lately. We have hosted what looks to me like a brilliant major sporting tournament (the debacle around the opening notwithstanding) where we have fulfiled the “stadium of 4 million” ideal. And what’s more on the field the All Blacks are poised to break the 24 year drought and make us world champions again.

But today I read two stories in the New Zealand Herald that made me ashamed as a New Zealander. The first is the news that the government has slashed the number of food parcels it hands out by 20% in a year at a time when foodbanks are dealing with more and more individuals and families who need support for the very basics of food. Food parcels are not about anything other than people getting the necessities of life.

Last night in Wellington there was a public meeting on poverty issues where Stephanie McIntyre from Downtown Community Ministry talked about the more than 400 clients they dealt with in the three months to June. They do a great job at DCM, making real and substantive differences in people’s lives, but the current government is making their job much harder by changing policies to make it harder to access food grants.

The government’s approach in my view is privatising dealing with poverty, it is an abdication of responsibility and it is morally wrong.

The second story is an acknowledgement from John Key that the “underclass” he talked so much about in the 2008 election campaign has grown under his watch. He can’t deny the evidence, it is all around from the massive increase in foodbank use, the rise in unemployment to health indicators like the 5,000 extra avoidable hospital admissions among children for respiratory illness and skin infections.

So the PM acknowledges it, great. But he is not a spectator here, he is actually running the government. More can and should be done to directly attack the growth in poverty. It is simply not good enough.

Labour has policies that are directly aimed at addressing this, from the increase in the minimum wage to $15, a fairer tax system including making the first $5000 tax free for everyone, increasing the top tax rate and introducing the CGT. We also will have a comprehensive children’s policy, which as Annette King has already announced will include legislating targets for the elimination of child poverty. And for me that must be the goal. Nothing less is acceptable.

At the forum on poverty last night Brian Easton spoke and he said while it was possible to argue on a technical basis about the best policy response to poverty, the real question to be asked is what are the ethical and moral principles that lie behind the policies. It seems to me to be hard to find an ethical principle that lies behind cutting the number of food parcels or letting inequality and poverty grow.

I think Brian’s question is a legitimate one to ask. So here is my answer. The ethical basis for Labour’s policy at this election is fairness, inter-generational responsibility, inclusion and respect and a belief that if we reduce ineqaulity we will harness all our potential, which common sense tells us will benefit us all. So what’s the ethical basis for National’s policy?

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Filed under: Fair Share, inequality, poverty
23 Comments

Morality tale #1

Posted by Clare Curran on August 14th, 2011

Have come across some interesting pieces in the last couple of days on the issues arising from the UK riots.

The first was written by Peter Oborne, the Daily Telegraph’s chief political commentator.

He writes:

Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates.

The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.

Read the rest here. He’s not very complimentary about politicians from both sides of the political spectrum.

Fair enough. We are all accountable. And politicians need to try to practice what they preach, while remembering that they too are human and subject to frailty.

But as Oborne writes, the double standards are extraordinary:

The Prime Minister showed no sign that he understood that something stank about yesterday’s Commons debate. He spoke of morality, but only as something which applies to the very poor: “We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every town, in every street and in every estate.” He appeared not to grasp that this should apply to the rich and powerful as well.

The tragic truth is that Mr Cameron is himself guilty of failing this test. It is scarcely six weeks since he jauntily turned up at the News International summer party, even though the media group was at the time subject to not one but two police investigations. Even more notoriously, he awarded a senior Downing Street job to the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, even though he knew at the time that Coulson had resigned after criminal acts were committed under his editorship. The Prime Minister excused his wretched judgment by proclaiming that “everybody deserves a second chance”. It was very telling yesterday that he did not talk of second chances as he pledged exemplary punishment for the rioters and looters.

These double standards from Downing Street are symptomatic of widespread double standards at the very top of our society.

Someone tweeted this piece last night saying that what Peter Oborne has written is the moral compass for our time. I reckon there’s something in that.

Hat tip: LM

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Cost of Living, democracy, inequality, poverty
26 Comments

The poverty trap

Posted by Clare Curran on August 7th, 2011

Last week a woman came into my office in tears. Not that unusual. She works. Doesn’t earn a lot. Her husband had been laid off. He was receiving a benefit, but it wasn’t much because of her work. He had scored a few hours work in a job where they couldn’t offer full time work, though they valued him.

He had to scale back those work hours because he couldn’t get the benefit and work many hours and the hours didn’t pay enough to enable him to come off the benefit. He’d had to make a choice. He wanted to work. He was donating some hours to the workplace as a result. In order to keep in the game.

They have bills to pay. She was in tears because they’d had to make a decision that week whether to pay the electricity bill or the bank, which was pressuring them to pay some mortgage payments they had been unable to.

It was hard to know what to advise. They simply didn’t have the money. WINZ couldn’t give them any more assistance. I could only see more hardship down the line for these people who were in this position through no fault of their own.

What’s next for them? Having to sell the house, at a price less than they bought it for. Slipping backwards as they head for retirement. Rented accomodation, nothing to hand on to the next generation.

This is the plight of many New Zealanders right now. People struggling. Not much to hope for.

I sometimes despair. According to John Key and Bill English things are looking up. But they’re clearly not for these people and many others like them.

The SST did a good piece today on poverty. If you haven’t; do read it, because it says the new face of poverty isn’t people on benefits, but people on low wages. Every foodbank around the country will nod their head to this. Prices are going up. Wages aren’t. People can’t cope.

People want and need a plan.

This graph says it all really

Col graph 3

Filed under: #ownourfuture, Cost of Living, debt, poverty
24 Comments

The Poor List

Posted by Darien Fenton on July 29th, 2011

The wealth of New Zealand’s 150 richest people have grown by almost 20% in one year with the combined wealth of New Zealand’s richest burgeoning from $38.2 billion to $45.2 billion – the highest total ever.

But it seems enough is never enough. Having made their fortune, some of the Rich Listers are still demanding the  ”freedom” to make even more money.  They want reduction in costs for business and excessive regulation addressed. I take that to mean the usual : cut workers’ rights, privatise ACC, reduce taxes. This is despite New Zealand consistently ranking as having the highest levels of business “freedoms” in the world.

They talk about “wealth creation” as if they have done it all on their own, without the help of governments, taxpayers, workers and the generations gone before.

The NBR editor-in-chief Nevil Gibson even called the Rich Listers “national treasures” in the headline of his editorial about the Rich List.

For goodness sake. What have we come to?

I want to know where the poor list is.

Yes, we talk about the poor, (occasionally) but they are faceless individuals.  If their stories are told, they are often blamed by the likes of John Key for having a “poor attitude”.

Being poor is nothing to celebrate, but we have to talk about it and face facts.

The question is how we better share wealth in New Zealand today.

Could the Rich Listers tell us their ideas for that – just for a change, rather than the continuing demand for more of the same that has led us to being one of the most unequal societies in the world.

Please?

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Filed under: Wealth, poverty
75 Comments

The inequality of news

Posted by Clare Curran on June 18th, 2011

Came across this just now on Twitter. From the UK’s Financial Times. It seems relevant.

Two extracts below and you can read the whole piece here

Now the rich are always with us …

By Simon Kuper

Published: June 17 2011 22:14 |

Forty years ago, the typical person in the western world read the local newspaper. It told you which local butcher was retiring, who had celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, and it covered the local politicians, athletes and business owners. Twenty years ago, the typical person read the national paper. It covered the national elite. Today that person gets news or Twitter feeds from websites that cover the global elite: everyone from Lady Gaga to Barack Obama.

This shift – from local news to global – is well-known. Less well-known is one of its consequences: news has become news about rich people. Today’s economic inequality is reflected and driven by inequality of news.

and this:

The daily focus on the rich has two consequences. First, these people become part of our own imagined peer group, and so we grow dissatisfied with our own income. It was more soothing to read about the local butcher than about the commodity trader Ivan Glasenberg and his £5.8bn.

Second, we forget the poor. They may always be with us, but not in the media. The perhaps 2.5 billion people with less than $2 a day get ignored, due to the triple whammy of being poor, non-white and non-Anglophone.

For instance, there’s a new treatment that stops the spread of Aids, but rich countries are reluctant to fund it. This has generated a few worthy editorials in highbrow publications, but otherwise is considered too boring to tweet.

In this country we know there’s need and that the cost of living is way too high for vast numbers of us. Not just the people who are described as the traditional poor. But the new poor; the people who have lost incomes, houses and quality of life and are struggling for their very existence. They are growing in number.

Let’s not hide the increasing desperation and hardship many people are feeling. And when considered ideas and solutions get put up, let’s not brush them aside and hide them behind a slogan put up by the other side.

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Filed under: inequality, media, poverty
18 Comments

The Day

Posted by Clare Curran on May 26th, 2011

A few weeks ago Moby joined with MoveOn.org by starring in and lending his new single “The Day”  to a video that protests attacks on America’s most needy. Moby was protesting against budget cuts that could disproportionately hurt the most vulnerable in America.

For those of you who know who Moby is, this is pretty strong. If you don’t already follow MoveOn.org then you should

Is this what we face?

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Filed under: Cost of Living, children, poverty
2 Comments

Annette = substance, Bennett = useless spin, play of the day

Posted by Trevor Mallard on May 6th, 2011

And from what I read she is struggling in Waitakere too.

For those without broadband, the Hansard is below: (more…)

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Filed under: Loan Sharks, Pacific issues, Play of the Day, Victims' rights, Waitakere, disabilities, parliament, poverty, social development, unpaid work, women, youth
24 Comments

My night at the shelter

Posted by Grant Robertson on April 21st, 2011

Earlier in the year Mike Leon who runs the Wellington Mens Night Shelter asked if I would come and spend a night staying at the shelter. I have worked with Mike and his team over the last couple of years, and have great respect for what they do, so I said yes. On the condition that I was not taking a bed that someone else needed. That night was last night.

Mike, of course, had an ulterior motive. The Shelter has never been busier, and its resources are stretched beyond breaking point. They would love to do more for those that stay there, but they just dont have the resources to do it. An MP staying was bound to draw attention- and you can see the end result of that on Campbell Live here.

For those that dont know the Shelter caters for homeless men with around 20 dormitory style beds, and another 20 or so hostel rooms upstairs. For the dorm beds you pay $10 a night. There is no food (many of the residents eat at the soup kitchen). It is not luxury. A single bed, with a cabinet. There are partitions that provide some privacy, but certainly do not block out the noise! By all accounts last night was a pretty calm night. It was uncomfortable, noisey, and there was a fairly tense atmosphere. But its a bed and a roof over the head.

I had really good chats with a number of those there. They range in age from early 20s to early 70s. Everyone has a different story. There is Tom (name changed) who’s life took a turn for the worse when he got a brain injury in a car accident a few years back, has chronic alcohol problems and is desperate to get in a rehabilitation facility (more that another day). There is Ian (name changed) who got evicted from his last flat and just can’t get the money together to find another one as he does not have a job. He has a list of places he has applied to, from here to the Kapiti Coast, but nothing is coming his way. There’s Nathan (name changed) recently out of Rimutaka Prison, with nowhere to go. He has a set of health problems that make the mind boggle, and at least at the Shelter the wonderful doctors and nurses from the Te Aro Health Centre come in each week and he can see them.

Mike and his team are a magnificent ambulance at the bottom of the cliff that is homelessness. But we must build the fences at the top. What was clear from almost every conversation I had last night was that the people there have ambitions and dreams. They might be modest in some eyes, but they are about dignity. They want a job, a secure place to live that is theirs and many talked of wanting someone to share it with.

We need to take homelessness seriously. The government would not even have an inquiry when it was proposed by Moana Mackey. That would be just the first step for me. To really tackle homelessness we need to find stable accomodation for these guys, and put in place the support and the programmes that will allow them to live independent lives. That will be easier for some than others. Some will need extensive support to deal with their addictions (did someone say a Wet House), others will need support to get basic life skills and other work skills. But it is worth the investment. Not just for them, but for all of us. It is a social and economic scandal that in a relatively wealthy country people are caught in this cycle. The social cost is huge, the pure economic cost (and loss) is huge.

In the meantime what Mike and his people do is a great service to the community. If you want to support them they need money, blankets and sheets. If you want to donate food, and you live in Wellington the Downtown Community Ministry is desperate for more food for its foodbank. If you want to solve the underlying issues, well, that would politicise this story, but I think you get my drift.

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Filed under: alcohol and other drugs, housing, poverty, social development
27 Comments

Remember when Key wanted to close the wage gap with Aussie – now English is proud of it

Posted by Trevor Mallard on April 9th, 2011

John Key’s promise to close the wage gap with Australia was an important policy plank.

Yesterday Bill English formally abandoned that policy and used the fact that our wages are 30% lower to try and sell New Zealand as a long term investment option.


The fundamental competition is for capital, including Australian capital, he said, and over the next few years New Zealand’s advantages would become more apparent.

“One is the wage differential. We have a workforce that is better educated, just as productive and 30 per cent cheaper,” he said.

I suppose it should be refreshing to see honesty from the government but I do feel sad the the first appearance of a plan openly involves keeping wages low.

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Filed under: economic, inequality, low pay, national, poverty, value of work, workforce
23 Comments

The car washer dudes are back

Posted by Darien Fenton on March 29th, 2011

Don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed a lot more car window washers on intersections lately. My local one is back after not seeing him for years, because they mostly disappeared during the nine years of almost full employment under a Labour-led government.

But they’re back. They’re part of New Zealand’s informal economy, where in hard times, people are forced to make a living in whatever way they can because they cannot find jobs or are unable to start businesses in the formal economy.  These are part of the working poor who are working very hard but who are not recognised, recorded, protected or regulated by the government.

There’s no question that New Zealand does have an informal (or underground) economy.  The question is how big is it and is it growing?

Unfortunately, we have no idea about the size of the underground economy in New Zealand because people working in the informal economy are not registered as businesses or employees and they do not pay taxes.

But think about the workers that you see around the place.  There’s the flower and strawberry sellers on the side of the road.  There’s those who do jobs “under the table” to top up their meagre income or unemployment benefit.  There’s those who work from home and even in garages as sub-sub-sub contractors making things, sewing or putting things together, there’s those who mow the lawns, do a bit of catering on the side and there’s the street vendors selling jewellery, fake watches and sunglasses in the streets.

Increasing poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor is one of the underlying reasons for the growth of the informal economy – even in first world countries.

It is is poverty that forces people to take up unattractive jobs in the informal economy and the low incomes that such jobs yield create a vicious cycle of poverty.

It’s not good for our economy or society either.  No taxes paid, no ACC levies funded, no health and safety, no minimum wage, no other protections. 

It’s almost like the car washers are a barometer of the state of our ecconomy and the well-being of New Zealanders.  If it is, then we’re in big trouble.

Sadly, with a government with no plan for jobs, I fear I’m going to see a lot more of my local car window washer.

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Filed under: informal economy, low pay, poverty
47 Comments

Sunday papers

Posted by Grant Robertson on February 20th, 2011

Politicians, me included, have been known to be pretty negative about the media in New Zealand, so today I wanted to offer a bouquet to the new look Sunday Star Times.  The focus section in particular has been beefed up, starting off with a great feature by Kim Knight on poverty in New Zealand. As the Christchurch City Missioner says

?It is not a matter of the poor making poor choices, but of the poor having few options from which to choose.

The article should be required reading for the government. Also a very interesting interview with Paul Callaghan, and in the business section, as ever a good column from Rod Oram.

The only black mark for the paper is another ridiculous Jonathan Marshall story that states that Kanwaljit Bakshi is a “senior National MP”. Ah, not sure that even Bakshi himself would make that claim!

While the Herald on Sunday seems to be attracting more readers, it is good to see a Sunday paper with some detailed features. On the subject of the HOS, their editorial today is a cracker. As they say

We’ve all come across beneficiaries whose spending was questionable but the vast majority are trapped in a poverty cycle not of their making and the PM’s dismissive comment was that of a man seriously out of touch

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Filed under: Cost of Living, media, poverty
40 Comments

Poor choices… or just “poor”?

Posted by Clare Curran on February 18th, 2011

I understand John Key reiterated his comments this morning about people on benefits making (poor) lifestyle choices. I can’t find a link.

This is what I think. John Key, David  Farrar and the national strategists are using the trick of finding the example of someone on a benefit abusing the system in order to build a picture of systematic abuse. Pitching their messages to the middle ground; reinforcing a suspicion held by people who suspect that beneficiaries rort the system

It’s a common tactic used mostly by conservative governments against the groups who are most vulnerable, in order to undermine the  basis of welfare for those most in need. Sole parents, the chonically ill, people on invalid and sickness benefits, people receiving ACC. People who live in state housing. Poeple on low incomes generally.

People attending adult education classes, people who depend on 20 hours free early childhood education. There’s a longer list.

I have those people coming through my door every day. In need. Often desperate. I’m told by one of the major social agencies that these people are often the best budgeters. They can make $5 go a long way.

Yes there are people who take advantage. In any situation, whether it’s through the welfare system, in the workplace, the school, at the local Church or community organisation, or in the boardrooms and stockmarket floors. It’s human behaviour. But then there’s need, hard circumstances and grinding poverty. And it’s increasing. Certainly in my electorate Mr Key and Mr Farrar.

Yesterday (and again this morning) a South Dunedin man came in. He’s close to retirement. He was declined ACC -although injured by assault in September. He’s on a sickness benefit and struggling financially. This week he had $2.00 left in his bank account the day after benefit day. He had an  insurance payment go out and always in overdraft by the time benefit goes in. He has been selling his possessions.

He went to Work and Income for an emergency benefit this week and was declined on the basis that had another within the last three months. This happened while on 3 week stand down between ACC and his  benefit starting.

He has been referred to a food bank but won’t go. He would rather rely on friends. He feels too proud.

He suffers severe pain and is getting very depressed. We will do what we can to help him. My office has made an appointment with Work and Income to argue his case.

No doubt John Key and David Farrar could pick holes in the way he’s lived his life and the choices he’s made. Wouldn’t it be better to try to give him some support and get him back on his feet? What kind of bloody country are we becoming?

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Filed under: Cost of Living, poverty
46 Comments

What’s David Farrar going to say next?

Posted by Clare Curran on February 17th, 2011

Just read his post on Kiwiblog on why people go to foodbanks. These are the people that John Key says make poor choices. Looks like Farrar agrees with Key. I just posted on this below.

Well mate, try going along to one of these foodbanks. And see for yourself who’s turning up. People in real need who are embarassed, who have been shoved out the door by Work and Income and refused help.

This is what my office was told this morning by one of these foodbanks:

… referred to the “new poor” and noted that they are not as resilient as those who have been poor on a long term basis. Their distress is high. She said that last week she was dealing with a former staff member from a govt department.

Farrar believes people who use foodbanks fall into one of three categories:

  1. Those whose expenses regularly exceed their income – which probably does indicate a budget prioritisation issue
  2. Those who have a temporary one off high priority expense, such as medical bills (note special need grants are also available)
  3. Those who prefer free food to paying for food

What rubbish. Talk about out of touch. And yes, I’m pretty cross.

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Filed under: Unemployment, poverty
75 Comments

Return to McGehan Close

Posted by Grant Robertson on February 4th, 2011

Tonight, TV3 returned to McGehan Close, the street in Auckland which John Key branded a “street of shame” in 2007 as he sought to highlight the so-called “underclass”, and involved Aroha Nathan and her family in a publicity stunt culminating with taking her to Waitangi.

This story is worth a look. (Sadly you can not embed TV3 items, so just follow the link) I watched it live, and the comments that came in after were not complimentary of the Nathan family. I don’t want to make any comment on them, but it is worth reflecting that the people of this street feel worse off now after two years of National- and they know that John Key’s “aspirational” government has favoured the wealthy rather than them in the face of rising food prices and living costs.

Just in case anyone does not believe that John Key is a “politician”, this is a reminder of a cynical piece of political theatre. Theatre that John Key did not even have the guts to come on TV and defend tonight.

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Filed under: Cost of Living, national, poverty
21 Comments

Don’t dump on the do-gooders

Posted by Darien Fenton on January 9th, 2011

Paul Thomas had a good article in the NZ Herald yesterday, where he describes the work Jimmy Carter has been doing since he lost the US Presidency in 1980.

Apparently, he’s on the verge of eradicating the guinea worm – a parasite that is ingested from drinking water and grows to around a metre in length, then erupts from blisters (eewww I know!)

The Carter Foundation’s campaign of education and distribution of water purification strainers has reduced the number of cases from three million reported cases in 1980  to 1700 last year, mostly in Sudan.

Yet, as Paul Thomas says :

(Jimmy Carter)… remains the benchmark of liberal ineffectuality and a prime target of that curious pejorative, habitually delivered with a curl of the lip, do-gooder.Carter is routinely described as a peanut farmer, which is true as far as it goes. He was also a naval officer involved in America’s nuclear submarine programme and a modernising governor of Georgia, but those parts of his CV don’t conform to the narrative.

Sarah Palin, who during the 2008 presidential campaign sneered at Barack Obama’s background as a community organiser, recently joined the dots. Asked to summarise Obama’s presidency, she offered, “Two words: Jimmy Carter.”

This is the same Sarah Palin who, since she resigned her Alaska governship, has made $16 million through books, speaking engagements and appearances on Fox News.

It says something about today’s society that we (some) hang on Palin’s every tweet and treat her as a serious political figure when all she seems to be good at, or interested in, is self-promotion, while continuing to deprecate Carter despite his measurable contribution to mankind.

I agree. And don’t we see it here?  The denigration of those whose work involves helping others, rather than themselves and whose causes are about more than building personal wealth.

We need to value and respect those who are dedicated through their work or community involvement or activism, to doing good and to fighting for important causes.

Because if they don’t, who will?

Filed under: Foreign Affairs, community, health, human rights, inequality, poverty
42 Comments

Getting our kids out of poverty: hypocrisy from the Maori Party

Posted by Clare Curran on December 14th, 2010

One in five NZ children live in a beneficiary household.  They experience poorer health outcomes and are more likely to be admitted to hospital.

Our current social safety nets are inadequate to protect these children from significant hardship. There were gains made during the mid 2000s, but those gains have been reversed.

These are the guts of the findings from the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2010 Update, which was compiled by experts from many of New Zealand’s pre-eminent children’s health and welfare organisations. It shows that admissions to hospital of children with diseases associated with poverty increased by about 2000 per year during 2008 and 2009.

The report shows that poverty is once again on the rise in New Zealand after dropping midway through this decade when Labour made its alleviation a priority. The NZ Herald wrote about it today.

Labour’s Deputy Leader Annette King has signalled that Labour will next year release policies that put children centre stage. She said yesterday:

“These polices will reflect a growing body of research that says tilting public expenditure towards the early years of life will pay off for children, their families, as well as communities and our country as a whole.

“Labour is making children’s wellbeing a top priority by working with experts in the community to put together a six-year agenda for change.

I spoke yesterday at the launch of the report in Dunedin. Alongside National’s Michael Woodhouse, the Maori Party’s Rahui Katene and Greens co-leader Metiria Turei.

Woodhouse disputed the stats. Well he would wouldn’t he.

But it was incredibly ironic to hear Rahui Katene talk about the importance of discussing the philosophy behind social policies and her distaste for  policies that favour the more wealthy and are expected to trickle down to the poor.

I don’t have the figures at hand for how many times the Maori Party has voted with National to pass its tax laws, its laws that reduce hard fought-for conditions for wage and salary earners. Laws that force solo mums to get jobs  (mostly low paid) when their children turn six and laws which have taken away the supports for solo mums to get tertiary training as a pathway out of poverty. As far as I can remember the Maori Party voted for all of those laws. That’s just to name a few.

I fought for a year to get the funding retained for Dunedin’s only teen parenting course. It focussed on teaching young mums literacy and numeracy and gave them the confidence and self esteem to know they could do further training. Maori  Party co-Leader Tariana Turia washed her hands of this as one of the relevant Ministers.

Hypocrisy. If the Maori Party wants credibility then stand up to National and say No we don’t like your trickle down policies. Don’t mouth platitudes.

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Filed under: children, health, poverty
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Tony Judt is dead; his ideas arn’t.

Posted by David Cunliffe on August 12th, 2010

Few writers have impacted me as much as Tony Judt in his recent book “Ill Fares the Land“.  He died last Friday, and I mourn his loss.

Ill Fares The Land picks up where The Spirit Level leaves off: asking why equality and social democracy have declined as drivers of political change. 

Judt suffered from the rare Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Ill Fares the Land was dictated literally from his sick bed.   It is not a robust peer reviewed academic treatise, but in places it is pure inspiration.  Read it.  Buy it.

He traces the crises of the early 20th century – two world wars and Great Depression.  he charts the rise of post-war Keynesian economics and the politics of social democracy that were determined famine and war should not again stalk the earth.

He  notes the rise of Hayek’s Austrian economics – and its Western political manifestations in Reagan and Thatcher’s administrations. 

He notes the rise of the Third Way under Blair (and by another name under Clinton, and could we add locally Clark/Cullen?)  as a triangulated response against the rise of right wing political hegemony.    

He argues that with the end of those administrations the ideas of the Right once again hold sway.  He asks what is worth saving of the social democratic project, and what is now to be done.

He concludes that nothing short of a strong and clear reclaiming of the values of equality, community and social democracy will equip the Left for the fight it must now win.

He notes that genuine politics must take place alongside those it seeks to serve, and I am sure that he is right about that.  

Ill Fares the Land is  far from a perfect work.  (And for the trolls out there, I did not agree with every word).  But it is a poignant lament for the decline of values most Kiwis treasure, and a challenge to us all to fight for a better future. 

RIP Tony Judt.

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Filed under: democracy, economy, history, inequality, policy, politics, poverty
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