ECHOES OF THE 1930's GREAT DEPRESSION

The First Labour Government of New Zealand was from 1935 to 1949. Setting the stage for innovative welfare and economic  policies until the 1980's, responsible for establishing a welfare state. Coming to power as a result of the 'Great Depression' of the 1930's, I ponder the possibility 'will a Labour Government again rescue New Zealand if voted in this year?' Michael Joseph Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and is commonly known at the architect of the 'welfare state' and regarded as one of NZ's greatest Prime Ministers. If Mr Savage was alive today, I wonder what he would have to say about the 'disintegration and impotence' of his beloved 'welfare system'? Savage had such political religious fervour, he said, quote, 'We are only a small and young nation, but we march with a union of hearts and souls to a common destiny.'

STATE HOUSING
Labour sited market failure for the then woeful housing shortage. In 1936 plans were created to build 5,000 state rental houses Nationwide. This initiative not only raised housing standards but also reduced unemployment. I remember with fond memories the State Home my mother and I lived in from 1961, which she later purchased (it's not the one featured below).

Typical 1940's State family house

Why is it that not even 70 years down the track, New Zealanders are again facing poverty, housing shortages, unemployment and health issues in percentages not seen since the last Great Depression of the 1930's?

Journalist and documentary maker; Bryan Bruce shed some light on what could be part of the answer to this in his documentary 'MIND THE GAP',  recently aired on TV3. More about this later ... in the meantime if you want to watch 'MIND THE GAP' to see for yourself what I am referring to go to the following link;
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2EdGFdgTA

CHILDREN GO WITHOUT FOOD

It is estimated that 83,000 New Zealand children go to school without breakfast. The following link is to an article by Neil Reid of Fairfax NZ about a project which transforms 83,000 plastic spoons into a sculpture to draw attention to the plight of hungry Kiwi kids.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9779340/83-000-spoons-for-83-000-kids

Neil also brings to our attention the error which 'Treasury and Statistics New Zealand'  admitted to in its calculations of household disposable income, which overestimated incomes among poorer households. 

The Honourable Bill English, National Party member, our Deputy Leader, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister for Regulatory Reform was told about this error prior to Christmas last year. Yet news of the errors made by 'Treasury and Statistics New Zealand' in the 2013 National Census did not break until Thursday last week. You can read the news article at this link, http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/bungle-sees-children-in-poverty-underestimated-20-000-5853202

It beggars the question, 'how many decisions have been made in Parliament based on incorrect Treasury information?', as both news articles mention how heavily our Minister of Finance and the Ministry of Social Development's principal adviser rely on said information. It's interesting to note The Ministry of Social Development has even had to withdraw reports from its own website. 

This being an election year, there is an even greater responsibility of each voter to diligently research what each Political Party has to offer.

The following link outlines the Labour Party's 'Best Start' plan. Quote, 'New Zealand families are finding it harder than ever to give their kids the best start. A Labour Government will stand with New Zealand parents, because the future of our next generation depends on it.'

https://www.labour.org.nz/beststart

Note: As I find  various Political Party plans and policies, I will include them in relevant future posts.

REASON FOR THIS BLOG

My motivation for writing this blog about ‘Poverty in New Zealand’ can be equally attributed to;

1. The Bryan Bruce television Documentary ‘Mind the Gap’,
2. This year is a government election year,
3. To unite all New Zealanders who live below the poverty line,
4. To motivate financially able New Zealanders to help improve the lifestyle of New Zealand's poor, lower and middle class people. 

My thanks to Bryan Bruce for making the television Documentary ‘Mind the Gap’, which was aired on TV 3 late last month. Bryan’s Facebook Page is https://www.facebook.com/www.redsky.tv at which he has a link from which you can watch his documentary;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2EdGFdgTA

This year, Friday, February the 28th, 'The New Zealand Herald' published an online article written by Simon Collins titled,

'POVERTY DATA LEAPS AFTER OECD REQUEST'. Quote,

'Statisticians have discovered thousands more children and the elderly living in poverty than have been reported previously.  Revised figures have found an extra 20,000 children and about 32,500 more people 65 and over who rent their homes, who are classed as in poverty because they live in households earning below 60 per cent of the national median income after housing costs. The revisions lift the number of children in poverty from 265,000 to 285,000, or from 25 per cent to 27 per cent of all children.

The changes are even more dramatic for the country's 147,000 who did not own their own homes in last years census. Last year only 28 per cent of them, or about 41,000 people, were counted as being in poverty - a figure now revised to 50 per cent, or 73,500.' 

You can read Simon's article at the following link,

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11211099

I invite you to post and share information about events, publications, websites, projects and organisations which have the same mission as this BLOG;