Champions for Children
The Greens have started a new programme – Champions for Children. We should all sign up. We need to make alleviating child poverty the election issue of 2014.
Economy
poverty
Nats in denial about education and poverty
Shearer’s speech on Sunday has sparked the discussions that this country needed to have about education, about poverty, and about the sad link between them. With every statement the Nats show how deeply in denial they are about these issues.
Who’s heading in the right direction?
While Labour and the Greens are laying out concrete policies to tackle poverty and its consequences that lead to life-long problems (child payment and home insulation from the Greens, food in schools and reading recovery from Labour), National MPs are acting as slum landlords, refusing to spend a few thousand dollars to bring their rentals up to standard.
Poverty Watch 2
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on the National government’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. In relevant news this week a study estimates the cost of child poverty in NZ to be $10 billion per year.
Will National think of the children?
The Herald has had a plethora of columns urging action on the 230,000-270,000 in Child Poverty this week. There have been 3 weighty reports on Child Poverty out recently to spur them, but the even conservative ol’ Granny Herald seems to have got the message – will National?
Poverty Watch 1
A weekly post on the status of poverty in NZ, and a list of the National government’s responses, or lack thereof. To date the government has not set any target for reducing poverty.
Imperator Fish Exclusive: Leaked Government Poverty Plan
Scott at Imperator Fish has managed to get his hands on a top-secret document that sets out in detail National’s plan to tackle the child poverty issue.
Nats hollow excuses on poverty
National has a line on child poverty to allow them to oppose actually doing anything: ‘Jobs! Jobs are the solution to poverty, not more assistance for poor kids. National is about jobs, not handouts! And we’ll get more jobs with mining!’ But their record doesn’t match the rhetoric … There are 65,000 more unemployed under National and hundreds of mining jobs are being lost.
Child Poverty to Increase; Key won’t care
The Children’s Commissioner’s expert group has recommended that things must be done about Child Poverty, and made very specific suggestions as to what should be done, including a universal child payment for under 6s.
John Key’s response to the indepth analysis of a bunch of our finest minds and Phil O’Reilly: “Dopey.”
Turning a blind eye to poverty
In Parliament yesterday, Metiria Turei challenged Key on his record on poverty, holding up a graph of the GINI index, showing the increase in inequality under National. Key nonsensically blamed the recession – why must it be that in a recession the poor get poorer while the rich still get richer? That’s a result of policy that protects the rich, not an inevitability.
Children’s Commissioner’s report due
A guest post from Carol on the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group (EAG) report, to be released today. We need a sustainable destination, not a life raft. Update: The report is out.
Child hardship rise a “bloody disgrace”
David Shearer is right. The rise in inequality under National, shown by the latest Household Incomes report from MSD, is a bloody disgrace. Good on Shearer for his robust and instinctive response. Now we look forward to seeing it reflected in the outcomes from the policy work that is going on behind the scenes.
National’s achievement: Highest ever inequality
The exodus to Australia is at record levels. Falling wages have seen social inequality rise to record levels. Good job National.
Structural discrimination
Structural discrimination is alive and well in NZ. It makes nonsense of all the right-wing “one law for all” and beneficiary bashing rhetoric.
Bennett, a disgrace to her office
You can’t really understand and fix a problem unless you have some reference points to measure progress against. So, when Paula Bennett’s Green Paper on poverty said that 20% of children live in poverty, people said ‘wow, what are you policies to reduce this and how much will they reduce it by’. But Bennett has no policies to reduce poverty, so she’s resorted to zen-like wavering over whether we can and should measure poverty.
Education and poverty
No one can fix the tail of educational underachievement without fixing poverty.
The Political Scientist: Underneath the ‘underclass’
Many of those who participate in the comments here at The Standard also run their own excellent blogs. We regularly feature No Right Turn and Imperator Fish Today we’re reposting (with permission) pieces from two other blogs that attracted some attention in Open mike recently. Here’s the second one, from The Political Scientist…
Frankly Speaking: Identifying a hypocrite in three easy steps
Many of those who participate in the comments here at The Standard also run their own excellent blogs. We regularly feature No Right Turn and Imperator Fish Today we’re reposting (with permission) pieces from two other blogs that attracted some attention in Open mike recently. First up here’s Frankly Speaking…
Sunday Reading
I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week: the bread & butter line, bankers, racism and the corporate speak of John Key.
Postcards from the “brighter” future
Hey John – where’s our “Brighter Future”? Hey National voters – was this what you voted for?
Another shaming poverty report for the government to ignore
Here’s a prediction for you – the Nats will ignore this report too. They’re not particularly interested in the issue of kids in poverty.
Saveloy Soup! Anyone?
Seems as though Dicken’s Oliver character was an ungrateful little ingrate who actually had it pretty good, all things considered. Gruel has to beat left over savaloy water, no?
Milking a Land of Plenty?
NZ milk production has apparently risen by 30% since 2005. And, according to sources used by frenz.co.nz, back in 2006 over 14 billion […]
Eat your fast-food and don’t think
National’s man in NZ on Air, John Key’s electorate chairman Stephen McElrea, was terribly worried about New Zealanders seeing a documentary about child poverty before the election. Informative TV has no place being funded with the public purse in National’s New Zealand. But no such objection to $1.6 million for New Zealand’s Got Talent. It’s the perfect pap to distract the masses.
The neoliberal plague
Since New Zealand skulled the neoliberal cool-aid, hospital admissions for infectious diseases, the diseases of poverty, increased 51% while dropping in the countries we should consider our peers. The working class life has gotten worse; our wages are lower, our jobs gone, and our families living in unhealthy houses owned by slum landlords.
Participate: Green Paper on Vulnerable Children
Paula Bennett, in her rush to action, has a Green Paper that intends to create a White Paper that may result in some […]
Poverty: our shame
We’ve been told about how bad poverty is here, and how bad it is for our future by the excellent Inside New Zealand documentary – but will it take an outside view to wake us from our slumber?
If so then Christians Against Poverty‘s John Kirkby is willing to provide it for us.
National values
National is letting children go to school hungry to try to teach their parents a lesson. Every fool knows the basic requirement for learning is food in the tummy. No decent person would turn their back on a hungry child. But Mike Sabin wants 20 children in his electorate to starve pour encourager les autres. And Paula Bennett has just cut the money that was feeding them.
It’s not about Race or Age or Gender or Religion…it’s about Poverty
An insightful piece by Pat Brittenden. How can we fix our problems if we won’t acknowledge (and National wants to stop the media talking about) their cause?:
For a long time I have had a bit of an untested theory. I’ve come to a place where I don’t think the negative statistics in New Zealand are about race, age, gender or religion. I think they’re about poverty and the by products of poverty.
Nats built the poverty trap, let’s destroy it
A new study confirms that growing up in poverty means you’ll likely be impoverished as an adult. With the negative consequences for the individual and society. The Nats’ low-wage, high unemployment policies create the poverty trap. Poverty is a design feature of the rightwing economy. Hypocritical and useless to demand their victims save themselves from poverty. Change the policies, fix the problem.
Poverty begets poverty
A good article in the Herald today, not letting National’s attempt at censorship of the issue of Child Poverty get in their way. It points to a lack of social mobility; where those who are poor don’t have equality of opportunity – let alone equity of outcome.
Nats to use censorship to keep public in the dark ahead of elections
National is quietly using its power to try to prevent programmes about important issues from being broadcast during election campaigns, after a documentary on childhood poverty upset them. When Key finally gets back from holiday, he’s got to explain why his party and government are trying to dictate what should be on TV during election campaigns.
Whose Values?
Scott at ImperatorFish has a look at the moral blame game that some use when violence is used against children. If people want to talk about a lack of values, they could start with the set of neoliberal values during the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. We are still paying the price for the massive trauma caused to communities in the name of greed.
Petty politics as usual on poverty
Key is playing petty politics as usual on poverty. He should have accepted Shearer’s call for a cross party process and his offer of help on the new “ministerial poverty committee”.
The poor get richer?
Phil O’Reilly’s article in today’s DomPost headed “The rich get richer but so do the poor ” is appalling. Responding to the OECD report on inequality, he is following in the footsteps of Alasdair Thompson. BusinessNZ are still dinosaur employers from the Victorian age.
100,000 reasons to vote Left
In the end its pretty simple for me. I’m asking you to vote for the Left this election, for 100,000 reasons.
Both Labour and The Greens have policies that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty.