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Source: New Zealand Labour Party
Posted by LabourVoices on November 21, 2024
David Parker’s speech from the University of Auckland’s forum on Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change in September 2024.
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Source: New Zealand Labour Party
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty.
“Unbelievably, mental wellbeing has been deprioritised from the latest child poverty report,” Labour’s child poverty reduction spokesperson, Carmel Sepuloni said.
“Labour prioritised mental wellbeing after children and young people said it was the single biggest issue facing their generation. But today we’ve found out Louise Upston has ignored official advice and scrapped mental wellbeing as priority area.
“How the Minister can reconcile wanting to improve the lives of children without prioritising their mental health is beyond me. It is a devasting loss of data which would’ve helped us understand how young people are faring.
“She’s also scrapped food insecurity as a measure – which comes at a time when she’s going against advice to restrict food grants to beneficiaries. It’s a sad reality when her Government doesn’t seem to care that there are struggling families that may go without food because of the Government’s choices.
“This comes after the Minister previously changed Labour’s child poverty reduction targets to make them easier for her Government to achieve.
“It’s important the Minister still has material hardship is a priority; however the fact remains there are more kids living in benefit-dependent households under this Government’s watch and the Minister has made deliberate decisions that see beneficiaries with less support.
“It is often overlooked that 55% of kids experiencing material hardship are in working households. The Government has stilted minimum wage growth and scrapped universal free prescriptions, all the while rates, rents, power prices are up. Their tax cuts don’t even touch the sides for most Kiwis.
“Preventing child harm while cutting funding to services for vulnerable children and family and sexual violence prevention programmes, also doesn’t add up.
“So far under Louise Upston’s watch, unemployment has risen and beneficiary numbers are soaring – all consequences of her Government’s choices,” said Carmel Sepuloni.
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Source: New Zealand Labour Party
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured.
The index, released overnight at COP29 in Azerbaijan, shows New Zealand is now rated as having a ‘low’ performance.
“National is failing to meet the climate challenge, and the world knows it,” Labour climate spokesperson Megan Woods said.
“Since the change of Government last year, the index says climate policy has taken a ‘significant backwards step’.
“The rest of the world can see that scrapping effective climate action, such as the oil and gas exploration ban, the clean car discount and funding to get big emitters off fossil fuels, is taking New Zealand backwards.
“Climate Minister Simon Watts just stood in front of the world at COP29 and said New Zealand is facing the challenge of climate change head on. Unfortunately, his words don’t match his actions as his policy relies on not-yet-invented technology and an Emissions Trading Scheme without New Zealand’s biggest emitters in it.
“At home, the Climate Change Commission has sounded the alarm over the Government’s policies, and points out we’re off track to meet our climate goals.
“New Zealand’s reputation as a clean, green, sustainable country and exporter is in real trouble if we don’t meet our targets as they are built into our trade agreements and our brand, not to mention our relationship with our Pacific neighbours for whom climate change is an existential threat.
“National must take a good, hard look at their policies in light of this downgrade in ranking, listen to the climate experts, and take much stronger action on climate change,” Megan Woods said.
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Source: ACT Party
ACT is welcoming new Ministry of Health rules restricting the use of puberty blockers for gender identity issues.
“Adolescence can be challenging and confusing, but using medication to deal with gender identity issues can have permanent effects that do real long-term harm. We should support young people to love themselves, not change themselves with experimental medication,” says ACT MP Karen Chhour.
“There was a day when we accepted that electric shock therapy was helpful for wellbeing of our young people. Look how that turned out.
“Internationally, there is increasing concern that there is not good evidence for the safety of puberty blockers for young people grappling with their gender identity. It’s great to see New Zealand now coming into line with countries around the world.
“New Zealand is moving toward a more precautionary approach that puts the safety of young people first, and Kiwis concerned about the role of puberty blockers in our health system have the chance to be heard in consultation that will inform future regulations.”
Source: New Zealand Labour Party
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place.
“The Government isn’t providing people somewhere to live, despite what National Ministers would have us believe. Every new Kāinga Ora house has been funded and built by the previous government,” Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said.
“The Government hasn’t funded any more Kāinga Ora builds of its own and has drastically reduced funding to Community Housing Providers. So, to stem the flow of people needing housing it has changed the rules to make it harder to get into emergency housing.
“The need hasn’t reduced, but applications have. Last year emergency housing averaged 8,660 applications a month. That’s dropped to under 4,000 per month now. People don’t tend to apply if they know they won’t qualify under the new rules. The rate of applications being declined has also almost tripled from 3% a month in the 2023 calendar year to 10% for August 2024.
“What New Zealanders will see is more people living in cars and homelessness increasing, it’s as simple as that.
“This is just National returning to type. We can’t forget the last National Government ended up with 1,500 fewer public homes than it started with and sucked out $576 million in dividends from Housing New Zealand.
“If National delivered additional homes at the rate Labour did, we would get much closer to solving the housing crisis. Instead, they’ve cut $1.5 billion from public house building and maintenance funding, and reduced people’s ability to ask for help.
“This Government is much more interested in cutting costs than helping people into a home,” Kieran McAnulty said.
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Source: Green Party
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy.
“Poverty is a political choice, one that this Government is choosing for our children,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Child Poverty Reduction, Ricardo Menéndez March.
“Every child deserves to get the possible start in life. We can and we must eliminate child poverty. The good news is that we have the resources to make this happen. The bad news is that this Government doesn’t care.
“The Government has decided to turn its back on our children by watering down its child poverty targets and now by removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus. Louise Upston’s justification for this is a joke, but child poverty is no laughing matter.
“It is ridiculous for Minister Upston to justify removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus because she wants to address material hardship when she is doing the exact opposite. She is making matters worse.
“The prevalence of mould and damp in houses as well as food insecurity have also been removed from child poverty-related indicators. This strategy is shallow and shameful.
“This Government believes what gets measured is what matters. Their changes to the child poverty-related indicators could have children going hungry and living in terrible housing while showing up as fine in their new measures. This is blatant cruelty.
“Minister Upston and her colleagues in cruelty have chosen to allow more children to live in poverty by cutting benefit increases, removing public transport and prescription subsidies and slowing down the building of public housing.
“Instead of shifting the goalposts and watering down our targets, the Government needs to commit to taking child poverty seriously. We cannot afford to allow more and more children every year to fall into poverty, our children deserve so much better from us.
“The Green Party would guarantee liveable incomes for whanau, while investing in the support networks that communities need to ensure children have all their rights met – even when times are tough,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.
Source: Green Party
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports.
“This decision is cruel and cuts against the grain of our values as a nation,” says the Green Party’s Animal Welfare spokesperson, Steve Abel.
“Animals deserve a life free from suffering. Harmful practices that put profit ahead of their welfare are unacceptable.
“The reality is that live export, by its nature, cannot uphold any such standards, and this move contravenes both the spirit and the letter of New Zealand’s own Animal Welfare Act.
“Leading animal welfare organisations and experts have long condemned live exports due to the appalling conditions animals endure during transit, their uncertain fate upon arrival in countries with far lower welfare standards than we would accept here, and the repeated sinkings which have claimed the lives of crew and thousands of animals.
“New Zealanders were promised a transparent submissions process to discuss the trade’s future. Instead, the Government opted for limited, “targeted engagement,” largely behind closed doors, effectively silencing widespread opposition. This is policymaking by stealth.
“The rest of the world is moving away from live export of farmed animals, with bans recently announced in the UK and Australia. Doubling down on a practice widely viewed as cruel and archaic is a severe step backwards.
“How can the Government claim to respect animal welfare when it is willing to subject animals to such prolonged suffering for profit? On every level, it’s a national disgrace.
“This government has bought into the industry spin of ‘gold-standards’. The only certainty for animal welfare is keeping the ban on live exports. This is something we will continue to fight for,” says Steve Abel.
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Source: New Zealand Labour Party
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law.
Those born in Samoa on or after 13 May 1924 and before 1 January 1949, and whose citizenship was revoked by the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill, will be able to apply to have their New Zealand citizenship restored.
“This is a significant day for our Samoan communities who can be proud that their strong advocacy has resulted in a historic win,” Labour’s Pacific peoples spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said.
“In honouring the spirit of the Government’s formal apology for the dawn raids and doing right by our Samoan communities, Labour has staunchly supported this Bill all the way through.
“Fa’afetai tele lava Teanau Tuiono for bringing this Bill to the table and to our Samoan and wider Pacific communities for advocating strongly over the course of this year.
“We know how much this means for our people and their aiga. Our Labour Pacific Caucus takes seriously the aspirations of our communities and will always work with others to make sure our people’s best interests are served.
“However today, as my fellow Samoan colleague and friend Barbara Edmonds has said, it’s ‘685 to the world!’” Carmel Sepuloni said.
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Source: New Zealand Labour Party
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today.
“Erica Stanford and the Transport Minister Simeon Brown used an opportunity when being questioned about rural school bus route cancellations to talk about how great it was that students can take public buses in Auckland,” Labour’s education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.
“New Zealand doesn’t end at the Bombay Hills. How do changes to public transport in Auckland help children in Hawkes Bay and West Coast who are losing their rural buses?
“It might be news to National, but public buses aren’t an option for many Kiwis.
“For working parents in rural areas school buses are essential. They’re now facing hours out of their day to get their young people to and from school – or even longer if they have children in both primary and high school.
“Rural school bus cancellations and changes are leaving families scrambling to find alternatives. These cuts are hitting rural communities hard and making access to education even more difficult, while the Government claims to be focused on attendance.
“Rural kids and rural schools matter. The Minister must take this issue seriously and stop the cuts to school buses,” Jan Tinetti said.
Source: Green Party
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law.
“This is a huge, historic win for Pasifika Justice, one that offers our country an opportunity for healing,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Pacific Peoples, Teanau Tuiono.
The legislation restores the right to citizenship for people from Western Samoa who despite being eligible for New Zealand citizenship were stripped of that right due to a cruel and targeted law in 1982.
“Those affected people will be eligible for citizenship as of right, instead of having to go through the standard residency and citizenship application processes. Successful applicants will also be refunded for the costs involved in the process.
“More significantly, an injustice has been addressed and this anti-Pasifika, discriminatory law has been struck from our books. This offers us all, not just those directly affected but also the wider community, a chance for healing as we reconcile with the wrongs of our country’s past.
“This Bill couldn’t have made it through without the intergenerational efforts of the Samoan community who mobilised for extensive consultations and came to share their stories with the Parliament select committee. This is what people power looks like.
“I also mihi to the cross-party efforts of MPs in deliberating on this Bill in good faith. MPs listened to the voice of constituents and understood the need for justice.
“This has been a special week at Parliament. Yesterday, we saw the immense hope of people power with the Hīkoi against the Treaty Principles Bill. Today, we see how MPs of different political stripes can work together to fix injustice. More wins are possible when we all work together.
“I hope this law change goes some way towards atoning for the mistreatment the Samoan community was subject to. It follows on from the Dawn Raids apology as another big step on the journey of healing that our country had to embark on,” says Teanau Tuiono.
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