Last week Treasury came out with a detailed and interesting report, Inequality in New Zealand 1983/84 to 2013/14. It is no surprise to find that the last Labour government acted to reduce inequality, the current National government has acted to increase it.
Step 1: Make welfare assistance almost impossible to obtain. Step 2: Dismiss the concerns of the poor by telling them they should ask for more help. Done!
Ho ho – what am I saying? It’s always a great time to be a bank.
I/S at No Right Turn: “Since coming to power in 2008, the National government has sold more than a thousand state houses and tightened access to the remainder considerably. The net result? People not getting the assistance they need…”
Refugees are people, but they get treated as a political football, as recent events in Australia and NZ have demonstrated once again. It is long past time that NZ raised its refugee quota.
Massive anti-austerity marches have just ended all over Britain. Tens of thousands of protesters have turned out to let the Tory government know that the fight against the right has not ended with the general election. Welsh singer Charlotte Church told the crowd in London that she is proudly British, but for all the right reasons.
Trickle down economics is pronounced dead by the IMF. Housing, the working poor and the economy – the policy settings are wrong everywhere.
The Nats want to turn over social problems to the private sector for profit. This account from the UK should give them pause.
Supporters of Tony Blair’s third way and the need for Labour to be aspirational should reflect on recent reports of his huge wealth earned with taxpayer support while he has been engaged on official business.
White Man Behind A Desk on the death of government, social bonds, and more. Perfect for a Friday!
“[The TPP] appears to be designed to cripple New Zealand’s strong public healthcare programme and to inhibit the adoption of similar programmes in developing countries.”
Freeing up Auckland land for private development and sale at market rates isn’t going to cut it.
Relationships Aotearoa is closing its doors today, as a result of ineptitude and indifference on the part of the Government. Claimed safeguards are looking incredibly shaky. Only three of the five organisations touted to take up the work are prepared to do so. And MSD has caused upset to the Privacy Commissioner by misrepresenting his views.
According to the Ministry of Social Development child poverty is worse in NZ than in any European country. According to the Child Poverty Action Group new figures are going to show an increase in poverty. According to the coroner a damp unhealthy state house contributed to the death of a child. Welcome to the “brighter future”.
One News has reported that the Government is on the verge of introducing Social Bonds whereby investors in social services will be rewarded if targets are met.
An increase to the base rate of benefits is welcome, but it comes with nasty fishhooks. As the Nats are forced to address leftie / progressive issues – a capital gains tax, Auckland housing, poverty – we the people need to keep the pressure on.
A panicked response to the Auckland property crisis. A welcome (albeit inadequate) adjustment to benefit rates. Public pressure is forcing action on the Left’s political agenda. Still no surplus, and no one believes the projected one next year. A reactive budget – there is no vision.
The levels of poverty and inequality in NZ are a disgrace. Apparently the budget is to “arrest the decline”, but we have heard such promises again and again from Key.
Unbelievable.
For the sake of reference – Nye Bevan was a Labour mp and the architect of the British NHS. Michael Sheen’s speech was a defense of that institution, but the underpinning message is, well…
If National were serious about their “social housing” spin they would place restrictions on the use and resale of these houses. Without such protections its just another privatisation of public assets.
Over the past few years the amount WINZ has lent to beneficiaries for emergency dental work has been slashed. Update: Seems to have been an error- OIA chaos in the Ministry of Social Development
“I’m a friendly guy that likes to interact with the public. I do like to have a bit of a laugh and I’m probably the most casual Prime Minister New Zealand has had.”
John Key’s week has turned from drama to farce. David Brent looks good next to this clown.
A great illustration of the gap between money-rich and money-poor in NZ.
A guest post by Deborah Russell responding to Government claims that we already have a capital gains tax on the sale of land.
For those who are wondering how National’s “social housing” policy is going to work in practice, The Herald today has a piece that gives a pretty fair idea.
Unite has achieved a significant victory by persuading Restaurant Brands to do away with zero hour contracts and to guarantee minimum working hours for staff.
As New Zealand’s dollar approaches parity with Australia’s a responsible Government should be pondering the implications and acting in the country’s best interests. No such luck in Aotearoa …
Here’s some slow Monday reading to ponder, on political trends in America.
The California drought gives us a case study in how the effects of climate change are going to play out.
Evidence on levels of welfare and willingness to work suggests that yet another nasty right-wing myth is wrong. Reality and its well known liberal bias strikes again.
The Liberal National Party Coalition in Australia want to overturn a requirement for corporations with a turnover of $100 million to disclose tax information on the grounds that kidnapping will occur even though the rich’s ostentatiousness is plain to see without the information being published. And in America it has been estimated that Wall Street’s bonus pool is twice the amount paid to full time American employees living on the minimum wage.
Harawira / Turei’s Feed the Kids bill is up tomorrow today in Parliament…
Are you saving to buy a house? Are you saving more than $1000 a week? If not, you are going backwards.
For details of protest action nearest to you check out the itsourfuture website.
