John Key commits to tacking NZ’s growing underclass
January 30th, 2007 at 1:13 pm by David FarrarJohn Key has just finished delivering a speech at the Burnside Rugby Clubrooms in Christchurch. The speech is online and titled “The Kiwi Way: A Fair Go For All”.
Well worth reading the whole thing. A few paragraphs that resonated with me:
For me, politics is not about the pursuit of power for the sake of it. Unlike some, I won’t measure the success or failure of my political career by the number of years I hold office.
For me, politics is about the ability to make change for the betterment of all New Zealanders. It’s about challenging us all to dream how great our country can be and then setting out to achieve it.
We have, over generations, evolved a set of essential New Zealand values, attitudes and shared experiences. These represent what I call ‘The Kiwi Way’.
You get a taste of this when you listen to foreigners talking about what New Zealanders are like. They typically say we are friendly and modest people; we are inventive and empathetic; we are proud of the natural beauty of our country; we believe in working hard and getting rewarded for it; we think no one is born superior to anyone else and that everybody deserves a fair crack in life.
We are not four million spectators, having a passing interest in someone else’s game. This is our country; we make the rules and we should decide its direction.
There are streets in our country where helplessness has become ingrained. There are streets of people who believe they are locked out of everyday New Zealand the way most of us experience it, and are locked into a way of life for which the exit signs and the road maps have long since been discarded. These streets have become dead ends for those who live in them.
I’m not just talking about poor communities – because we all know that being poor needn’t rob you of hope. I’m talking about places where rungs on the ladder of opportunity have been broken. I’m talking about streets like McGehan Close, in Owairaka, Auckland. In one week last year, two kids in that small street killed themselves and another two made unsuccessful attempts. It is a street terrorised by youth gangs.
Around the country there are other places like this. The worst are home to families that have been jobless for more than one generation; home to families destroyed by alcohol and P addiction; home to families where there’s nothing more to read than a pizza flyer; home to families who send their kids to school with empty stomachs and empty lunch-boxes; and home to families where mum and the kids live in fear of another beating from dad.
Last week, for the first time in its history, New Zealand Post stopped delivering mail to three streets in Hamilton. They stopped delivering to Tennyson Road, Emerson Place and Dryden Road because gang violence has made them too dangerous for posties to enter. If it’s too dangerous for a postie to enter, what is it like to live there?
We are seeing a dangerous drift toward social and economic exclusion.
That is not The Kiwi Way. It’s not the kind of New Zealand I grew up in and it’s not the kind of New Zealand I want my kids to grow up in. It’s not the kind of New Zealand I want anyone’s kids to grow up in.
These are tough problems – very tough problems. But I have no intention of being a Prime Minister who tackles only the easy and convenient issues. I don’t pretend I’ve got all the solutions. But I can tell you that dealing with the problems of our growing underclass is a priority for National, both in opposition and in government.
My first point is this: the solution doesn’t lie in just throwing more money at the problem. If it did, this Labour Government would have solved it a long time ago. And yet family dysfunction has flourished under Labour.
Look at the Kahui family. The Government recognised they were a needy bunch. So what did it do? It doled out around $1,000 a week in benefits to the Kahuis and the Kings, and do any of us believe it helped them?
My second point is that we need to make changes to a whole range of government services.
Addressing the problems of the growing underclass involves tackling serious and interconnected issues of long-term welfare dependency, crime, illiteracy, poor parenting skills, social exclusion, malnutrition, drugs, and lost hope.
In all areas of social policy, I am tasking National’s spokespeople to come up with policies to address the deep-seated problems in some of our families and communities.
We also need to ensure there is effective policing in all parts of our cities and in all areas of the country. We will not tolerate violence and antisocial behaviour. Under a National government, gangs will not be controlling neighbourhoods so posties can’t even deliver the daily mail.
Let me say that under National, the parole system will be focused on protecting innocent Kiwis from hardened, unrepentant and dangerous criminals. Under any government I lead there will be no parole for repeat violent offenders.
We also have a serious and growing problem with long-term welfare dependency.
I have said before that I believe in the welfare state and that I will never turn my back on it.
We should be proud to be a country that looks after its most vulnerable citizens. We should be proud to be a country that supports people when they can’t find work, are ill, or aren’t able to work.
But we should be ashamed that others remain on a benefit for years even though work is available to them. That is no way forward for them and it is no way forward for New Zealand.
Long-term dependency robs people of confidence, motivation and aspiration. Ultimately, it robs people of a stake in their own society.
We have to ensure that Kiwis, even those with relatively low skills, are always better off working than being on a benefit. We have to insist that healthy people receiving assistance from the State have obligations, whether that be looking for work, acquiring new skills for work, or working in their community.
National will use the welfare system, on behalf of all New Zealanders, to motivate long-term beneficiaries to change their lives for the better.
A National government will challenge the business community to work with us in backing a programme of providing food in low-decile schools for kids in need.
Too many kids in our poorest communities are being excluded from sport because their parents can’t afford it. These are the very kids who need it most.
A National government will work with schools, sports clubs, businesses and community groups to ensure that more kids from deprived backgrounds get to play sport.
We will invest in getting those kids playing sport because it reinforces The Kiwi Way.
Labour often views non-government providers as its competitors, not its partners. It sees them as unprofessional. It tries to squeeze them into boxes that just don’t fit. It smothers them with paperwork and makes them apply to multiple funding pools.
Well, I want to grow the competition. I want to get alongside the amazing groups that make a difference in our communities. I want to ask them what the government can do to support and extend their efforts.
My time in politics will only ever be a success if I can look back knowing I played my part in building on that pride.
I believe the best years for New Zealand are ahead of us. As a nation, we have everything to look forward to. We can be a country that is coming together; not a country that is coming apart.
I am determined to lead a New Zealand that delivers on our promise. I invite you all to join me in that mission.
Related posts:
- Large welfare families
- Why Welfare Reform is a Win Win Win
- Control of Benefits
- Forecasting vulnerable children
January 30th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I had my doubts about John Key, but I found little to quibble about in this speech.
The ‘underclass’ he talks about truly are the single biggest problem we face as a country, and 7 years of Labour have only made it worse.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
rhetoric…about ‘battler up from struggle street..’
some hot air..
some more rhetoric..
some prisoner-bashing..
no policy..
no substance..
the first major anti-climax of the political year..
i gave him 3 out of ten..(and was being genorous..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Someting I noticed:
John Key, 2007:
“We are seeing a dangerous drift toward social and economic exclusion.”
Don Brash, 2004:
“… the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand”
Nice. Very nice.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Someting I noticed:
John Key, 2007:
“We are seeing a dangerous drift toward social and economic exclusion.”
Don Brash, 2004:
“… the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand”
Nice. Very nice.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
“Under any government I lead there will be no parole for repeat violent offenders.”
So JK wants to permanently jail the underclass, but doesn’t have support of the whole party yet? Bravo, but that will require a dozen new prisons at least.
“We have to ensure that Kiwis, even those with relatively low skills, are always better off working than being on a benefit. ”
So National is tacitly supporting the minimum wage increases. Good for them.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I read it, closed my eyes and all I could see was Steve Maharey giving that speech. I know its to early to be specific but ANY MP could have wrung their hands and sounded caring like that (read a Peter Dunne Speech, if you dare).
I agree with Phil U 3 out of 10.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
The proof will be in the policy (which I await with interest).
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Well that’s the motherhood and applepie manifesto all right.
Now Johnboy show us the colour of your action plans……
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Talking about Helen’s smarmy poodle Maharey…… didn’t I hear him say it was woffle .
Good speech John, a Burnside rugby lad, who played in the front row engine room .
All the happy hookers will be shittin bricks.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Well, DPF, I’m glad only a “few” paragraphs resonated with you. I like the part where he says he wasn’t pursuing power after spending all that time and effort to grab the leadership from Brash. No pursuit of power there — nope, not a shred.
David your general values are good. But when it comes to National you will put party loyalty above them and praise the leaders that be because they are the leaders that be even when you wish they weren’t the leaders to be.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I’m sorry, but I thought we already had a Labour party in New Zealand.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I don’t think any Government Department that claims ” to act in the child’s best interests” can justify a $687 million dollar refurbishment job ?
Meanwhile at the coal face children are getting abused and killed in record numbers !!!!
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
But Tiger, the Labour party is the one saying the underclass is best dealt with by getting them jobs !
Switcheroony, eh?
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Didn’t match the Don Brash New Years speech, but not too bad for a first timer.
Vote:Trouble is John Key has little to rally on, Low unemployment, Surplus, etc. Leaves little room to run down the present Govt, but I suppose he gave it his best shot with the small amount of ammunition he had to fire.
5 out of 10???
January 30th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Nah, Keysy got it dead wrong…what happens is the growing underclasses tackle taxpayers for the taxpayer’s savings and NZ agrees. It’s easy.
John will settle in to politics as usual just give him time.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
After seeing John Key on close up.
added points for taking a couple of low blows from Sainsbury.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
John didn’t grab the leadership off anyone. There was a vacancy after Don resigned.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
DPF. You are joking ain’t you, might be time to update your glasses.
Vote:Nobody believes he DB jumped.
January 30th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
DPF. Nice to see that you are the only one who believes that
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
It was a good speech. It will read well to middle New Zealand. I give it 7 out of 10. He didn’t say too much, so what he did say will be more memorable for it. It leaves room for follow up, so I hope that comes.
Thanks for your thoughts Phil. A critique on the Greens speech would seem appropriate since you have obviously put a great deal of thought into looking at Key’s speech.
Greens will obviously not like the speech. Looking at their last speech – a good speech to them spends half the time slagging of George Bush, the other half slagging off mankind for causing Global Warming and generally acting like a plague.
And when you think they are going to stop they then keep going with their patented score card system. You get points for believing paying huge taxes to Kyoto will save the planet, and believing that CO2 emissions will be halted if everyone would just ride a bike when they did their grocery shopping at the farmers co-op 25 kilometers away.
And then they add a dose of “humility” into the speech – “we don’t have all the answers, because we haven’t worked out how to ban dairy farming without appearing a little extreme.” Very nicely done.
The Green’s State of the Planet speech is somewhere off this link.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
John says he doesnt have all the answers. hes wrong
He thinks the poor brown kids should play more sport!
Thats all they need.
AS for the “3 streets in hamilton”. The reason was that the posties heard gunshots. They assumed they were ‘gangs’. The police said that they were the ones doing the shooting as they were raiding a few gang houses. Posties are back this week since they arent worried at getting shot by the police. Nationals big policies are tax cuts for the rich and sports for the poor
I wonder how much of Keys speech is based on inaccurate information.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Ho hum. The learned loons of the left seem to have had their say. Now let’s see what happens when Tiler Field gets sued, Corrections gets sued by the family of their recent victim and a whole new swathe of people are sent back to their GPs for long term pain relief. Not to mention the half dozen citizens who will meet their deaths at the hands of P crazed parolees during the next six months.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
As always, the difference between the right and left is one’s positions are based on myths and anecdotes, the other on facts and measurable outcomes: Key’s speech was a classic example of right-wing thinking, and all Labour had to do to demolish it in its entireity was provide those pesky facts:
The state of our nation 1999-2007 – some facts and examples
Living standards
* 61,000 children have been lifted out of poverty under Labour
* Child poverty rates fell from 27 to 21 per cent in the 3 years to 2004
* Working for Families is predicted to reduce child poverty by up to 70 percent
* Incomes for the poorest households have increased in real terms since 1999
* The cost of housing for people on low incomes has fallen dramatically – households spending more than a third of their income on housing fell from 42 percent in 2001 to 35 percent in 2004
* Working for Families means families earning less than $35,000 will effectively pay no tax by 2008
Unemployment
* New Zealand has achieved the lowest recorded unemployment since 1982 and the second lowest in the OECD
* We have the highest number of Kiwis ever in work at 2.1 million
* Long-term unemployment fell by 70 percent since 1999
Outcomes for Maori
* Median incomes for Maori increased by 24 percent in real terms between 2001 and 2006 – faster than for the population as a whole
* The number of Maori receiving the unemployment benefit dropped from 41,000 in 1999 to 15,000 in 2006 – a reduction of 64%.
* There has been a huge leap in the number of Maori earning more than $50,000 (from 14,850 in 2001 to 33,070 in 2006). The number of Maori earning less than $20,000 dropped by over 11% between 2001 and 2006.
Justice
* NZ has the lowest recorded crime rate in a generation
* Recorded crime has continued to decline from the early 1990s, from a peak of 1322 crimes per 10,000 population in 1992 to 994 in 2005.
* The number of murders has stayed roughly constant the past 10 years. The highest recorded number was in 1996.
* 1000 extra frontline police staff will be in place over the next three years.
* Emergency 111 targets are being met consistently.
ADVERTISEMENT
Education
* The proportion of students going directly from school to tertiary education has increased from 45 per cent in 1998 to 57 per cent in 2004
* 57 percent of students achieved level 2 NCEA or better last year – up from an equivalent 37 percent in the mid 1990s under school certificate
* The number of students leaving with little or no formal attainment (13 or less credits) has fallen from 18.2% in 2002 to around 13% in 2005.
* Maori participation in tertiary education has increased at a faster rate than for the population as a whole
* 57,000 young kiwis are benefiting from the Fruit in Schools programme, offering access to fruit and teaching them and their families about nutrition
* Programmes are lifting literacy and numeracy standards in thousands of schools, for example, the Otara writing cluster which lifted writing levels in every participating school – year 4 to 8 students have gained nearly a year in addition to normal progress in reading comprehension
* Kiwi students at both primary and secondary level, continue to be among the best in the OECD in reading, mathematics and science.
Sport and communities
* Sport and recreation services received $58 million in 2006 compared to $2.5 million in 1999.
* Examples are “Sportfit”, a programme that provides sport opportunities in secondary schools; “Active Schools” which aims to improve physical activity opportunities and experiences for primary school children; a volunteers strategy which is aimed at encouraging more volunteers in sport, and Coachcorp – a programme involving businesses.
* The competitive contracting model for NGOs has been replaced with a partnership model and funding has increased for community organisations
Health costs
* The cost of visiting a family doctor has fallen by half
* All New Zealand children now have access to free or low cost health care, extending to all NZers from 1 July
Child Youth and Family
Vote:* CYF is consistently meeting or exceeding performance targets for its most critical levels – unallocated cases have reduced from more than 3,000 in October 2004 down to 435 in October 2006.
* In the five years to 2003, 38 children under 15 years of age died as a result of maltreatment, a decline from 50 in the previous five-year period.
* Figures on child maltreatment deaths should be treated with caution because, in a small country like New Zealand, the very small numbers involved produce highly volatile rates.
January 30th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Sam , so when the world gets told we are gold medalists in child abuse…?….. we are not allowed to collect our medal because some nasty right wingnut made all of it up !!!
Yeah right ….spin doctors don’t impress me……somebody is clearly telling lies about child abuse ?
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
uk_kiwi said:
>”We have to ensure that Kiwis, even those with relatively low skills, are always better off working than being on a benefit. ”
>So National is tacitly supporting the minimum wage increases. Good for them.
More likely that he is talking about benefit cuts than increasing the minimum wage.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
look..it’s adolf (no-matter-what-i’ll-mention-field-p-crazed-parolees) finkenstein…..
i wonder what he’ll say this time..?
and zen..thanks for the belly-laughs..eh..?
“..he didn’t say too much…it leaves room for follow-up…”
(heh-heh..!..)
indeed..!..indeed..!..(truer words have never been spoken..)
and you gave it seven out of ten..eh..?
i reckon zen..if he’d come out on stage..stuck a pipe up his arse..and farted his speech out..you’d give it ‘seven out of ten’..eh..?
btw..humphs has become like a ghost town..eh..?
are you finding it difficult to find any war-pimp/climate-change-denial stories to link too..?..things to say..?..mmm..??
(we understand..these are indeed/must be difficult days for you..and yours..)
did you hear exxon mobil has actually pulled the plug on the half a dozen ‘independent climate-change-denial think-tanks’ they have/had been funding..?
y’know..you remember..!..those ones you humphs used to link to/push their bullshit for them..?
btw..do you feel a bit of a mug..?
y’know..sucked-in/used/manipulated..?
you should do..eh..?..if not..you are just in denial..with the hurt yet to come..eh..?
and how is your intellectual self-worth holding up..?
knowing that not only have you been ‘played’ like a right mug..
but with your war-pimping and climate-change denying..that you are totally on the wrong side of history..?
how can you ever expound on anything ever again..when you are proven to have been sooo wrong..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Play it again, Sam. There’s a story behind every statistic. Emergency 111 targets are being met consistently. Taxis have never been so busy. And that time honored technique of sending a police car to the wrong suburb helps hit “response” targets. Sending the helicopter in late still ticks off the “response made” as does not allowing someone to hang up to get REAL help when an intruder is beating the living daylights out of the husband.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Typical nat speach, another beneficiary bash, is that all Keys can come up with?.
I dont like his chances.
Nat tried the “work for the dole” idea during its last miserable failure, dont know why nats blame all the crime on beneficiaries, it just aint the truth!
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Shorter John Key: Gosh there are some shocking newspaper headlines, I have no policies to fix that.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Absolute screamer of the day, nay month –
David P Farrar: “John didn’t grab the leadership off anyone. There was a vacancy after Don resigned.”
Phahahhhahhahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahaahhahahahaha
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
NatNever, not all beneficiaries are criminals, but it would be pretty close to suggest 100% of criminals are beneficiaries.
Problem with the left is that Labour rigs all the statistics and you guys buy it by the bucket full. Have you never spoken to anyone that actually works in a Govt department to find out the truth.
Getting charities and business more involved in supporting the community is a great idea. They do a hell of a better job now than the departments that are supposed to help out.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
NatNever, not all beneficiaries are criminals, but it would be pretty close to suggest 100% of criminals are beneficiaries.
Problem with the left is that Labour rigs all the statistics and you guys buy it by the bucket full. Have you never spoken to anyone that actually works in a Govt department to find out the truth.
Getting charities and business more involved in supporting the community is a great idea. They do a hell of a better job now than the departments that are supposed to help out.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
‘For me, politics is not about the pursuit of power for the sake of it. Unlike some, I won’t measure the success or failure of my political career by the number of years I hold office…’
Just wait till the pack mentality kicks in.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
‘For me, politics is not about the pursuit of power for the sake of it. Unlike some, I won’t measure the success or failure of my political career by the number of years I hold office…’
Just wait till the pack mentality kicks in.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Typical political speech, I don’t expect anything more. Lots of generalisations, lots of nationalist references (“The Kiwi Way” “on behalf of all New Zealanders”) to make everyone feel better, criticism of problems but is in no better position than Labour to solve them. But I would not expect anything more from a politician, who do best with vague visions. Because for any successful political, regardless of whether they are Labour or National, will do best with a “progressive conservative” (nothing to do with the Canadian party) approach. People don’t like Governments than say they’re going to change a lot of things, but they like Governments that say they’re going to “get things done”. So with that, they end up achieving worse than nothing: timid little alterations that don’t mean much.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
wtf is with all this random crap i’m hearing about “work for the dole didn’t work”. i mean the phrase is being thrown around like the latest fad without any real substance – why didn’t it work? what statistics prove this? etc. etc.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
In all areas of social policy, I am tasking National’s spokespeople to come up with policies to address the deep-seated problems in some of our families and communities.
Just 30 years ago most families could live an acceptable life on one income. Nowadays it takes two. Far too often in the lower socio-economic suburbs Mum AND Dad are working all hours and hardly see each other much less the kids. When they are at home they are exhausted…the kids have “parents” who pay the bills, but their family life is dysfunctional and they wander off to find trouble on the streets.
My grandmother once told me that the consequence of women entering the workforce in large numbers was that real wages would fall and families would need TWO incomes where in the past ONE sufficed. Without at least one full-time (or at least nearly so) parent, we breed “deep seated problems”, while at the same time we have seen our social cohesion decline because too many families no longer have the energy, time nor inclination to effectively participate in sports, clubs, scouting, marching, church social services, voluntary service clubs…etc.
Key’s so-called “underclass” has always been with us; but in the last 20 years the age-old issues falling out from this have become more urgent because:
1. The gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has widened. Much of middle NZ has done rather well, just look at the flash house, several trucks and the boat your average mid-career tradesman possesses these days…but those who never got on the ladder have not progressed much at all and this disparity is becoming harder to ignore.
2. A generation ago someone could leave school with no ability to read or write and do quite well, but the modern work-force requires literacy and numeracy. You can make someone “work for the dole” as long as you like…but they will never get a real job until they are functionally literate.
3. The drug P is a entirely new factor that defiles everyone who touches it. The old demon booze was bad enough, the weed surely never helped much, but P leaves a trail of utter desolation…
A strong thriving family life is the essential answer to the “underclass” problem. Nothing that any government does, will make any difference at all, just as long as powerful social forces continue to exploit families as mere “economic units” rather than vital engines of character, integrity and responsibility in our nation.
Vote:January 30th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
wtf is with all this random crap i’m hearing about “work for the dole didn’t work”. i mean the phrase is being thrown around like the latest fad without any real substance – why didn’t it work? what statistics prove this? etc. etc.
Posted by stan | January 30, 2007 11:20 P
…Because they closed most of the Post Offices.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 12:07 am
Looks like the Key speech is being knocked as much from the right as it is from the left! Frankly I quite liked a lot of it, the sentiment appealed to me. But I thought the ‘problems’ Key identified were all spin and the solutions a bit shallow. There was no evidence in the speech that the National Party have abandoned their ‘say anything to get into power’ approach that Hager exposed.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 12:08 am
I agree with Phil U’s first post and Nichlemn.
Now that National is lining itself up to enter a grand coalition with Labour (Labour can tweak a few policies to address this), we can see that the only parties in Parliament offering alternatives to the pablum of the centre are the Greens and ACT.
The Kiwi Way could be Blair’s Third Way so easily, I wonder what passion drives people to remain members of National now, other than to replace Helen Clark with a better man. It is very much like the old fashioned UK Tory strategy of accepting socialism and simply stopping it growing when you remain in power.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 12:59 am
Lets see, Key tries to sell us the story that his reason for getting into politics was to help the poor and needy, therefore he joined the National party!
Good luck with that line in 2008 chaps, you will need it.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:20 am
I just loved John Key’s line on Closeup tonight.
Vote:We are going to ensure children go to school with food in there stomachs.
So what is he going to do, put breakfast police in the houses of those families that don’t feed their kids breakfast.
What absolute rot.
John Key has spoken all the crap that National has spoken before.
Good bullshit, but that’s all it is BULLSHIT.
January 31st, 2007 at 3:32 am
I’m sick of reading (eg. sam dixon) how the crime situation is so much better nowadays.
read this: (national crime stats last 10 yrs – courtesy NZ govt stats)
http://xtabs.stats.govt.nz/eng/TableViewer/Wdsview/dispviewp.asp?ReportName=Crime/Calendar/National/National%20Annual%20Recorded%20Offences%20for%20the%20Latest%2010%20Calendar%20Years
look at recorded violence and dishonesty in 1999 and now.
Are you more concerned about a dishonesty offence (eg. shoplifting) or being beaten to a pulp?
Explain how things are better in the context of these stats. Looks pretty sick to me.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 8:37 am
I would like to point out regardless of who has the purse strings, polititians will favour any decision which appear to help there lust for power.
Vote:“Should a working couple with 2 kids ,need a government handout”[wff],; are the overall wages to low , or the living costs to high, maybe they want a living standard they can’t afford??.
Only once this question is addressed, will NZ move forward.
Pooring more money at low earners is not a long term solution.
I believe if this was so simple an answer , it would have already been done.
January 31st, 2007 at 9:25 am
John Dalley you are a complete fuckwit blinded by socialist mentality. My mother is a teacher at a low decile school who states that the biggest single issue stopping these kids from learning is that they are hungry. You sit on your fuckin moral high horse slating a real problem facing NZ and don’t offer any alternatives. The Ministry of Education is doing nothing about it, WINZ is doing nothing about it and it all falls back on teachers and charities to deal with the problem.
Go and visit the KidsCan.org.nz site and ask them why they provide free breakfasts, lunches, raincoats and shoes to students at up to 500 low decile schools. They will tell you it’s because you socialist wankers are more interested in ensuring that the kids minds are fulled with new age crap instead of their bellies.
You can all slate John Key, charities and the business communitity as much as you won’t while feeding up on Labours spin and false statistics, but these country is getting worse and it starts with the children.
Had a look at the front page of the Herald today? Every law abiding resident in that street and the surrounding area is shit scared for both themselves and their childrens future. What the fuck has your mightier than god Helen done to fix this? Absolutely nothing, justed chucked more millions into a black hole. If they gave 10% of the Govt department funding to charities this would go along way to starting to reverse the trend.
As John Key said there is no magic bullet, but one thing we know for sure is that chucking more money at it sure makes things worse.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 9:26 am
My analysis of family taxes (Where have all the Dollars Gone?) revealed that by the nineties women in the “average family on average income” were going to work to take home in net pay the equivalent of the taxes their husbands were now paying to the government.
Hence the two income household had the same income after tax as the single income family in the sixties.
During the fifties and sixties a family of husband and wife and two children on the average wage paid no taxes – in fact after family benefit they were tax beneficiaries.
BY the nineties the man on the average wage was paying thirty percent of income in tax. His wife’s after tax income equated virtually exactly to the amount of tax he paid.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 9:39 am
Ah Jim, you give us a link meant to show crime is increasng yet its clear in that very link that total offences have decreased by 20% in nominal terms and more like 30% on a per capita basis in that ten year time period.
Now, there are all kinds of problems in tracking crime rates (reporting of crimes, recording of offences etc) and these problems are only magnified when you try to cut out a particular part of cirme you are interested in. Jim says violent crime is up, i can look at the same info and say sexual crimes are down a third and homocides are down on a per capita basis (btw, there is, unfortunately, always a cluster of homocides around christmas new years, nothing new this year).
Its also not too flash to choose an arbitrary time-frame (why 10 years, why not 15, 20, 30). When you look right back at all recorded crimes over the years – its clear that the reported crime rate increased gradually until the neo-liberal reforms that effectively chucked 10% of the population on the scrap heap, then it sky-rocketed, but since unemployment has come down and we’ve stopped slashing benefits, crime has started to come down dramatically. Crime comes from motive and opportunity – alienating and impoverishing people with right-wing policies makes people not care about society and desperate, leading to crime.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 9:53 am
John Dalley. Pull off your socialist blinkers and do a bit of research on the issues instead of swallowing the spin and false stats from Labour.
Go to kidscan.org.nz and ask them why they need to provide breakfasts, shoes and raincoats to about 500 low deciles schools.
Ask any teacher (especially Primary) what is the single biggest factor stopping children in low decile schools from learning and they will tell you its hunger.
Face up to the facts. Behind the gloss of Helens spin doctors this country is going backwards. She reminds me of Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burnt.
7 years of chucking money are Govt departments has not worked and will not work. If 10% of their budget went to charities then this would be a great start.
Also did you see the front page of the Herald? Yes those families are really seeing an improvement in living standards and crime under Labour.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:03 am
Sam crime hasn’t come down. It’s just that for the majority of petty crimes such as theft and vandalism no one can be bothered reporting it, unless there is a financial justification through an insurance claim.
Also suggesting that on a per capita basis things are getting better is defeatist. So in your opinion as long as the population increases faster than the number of innocent people murdered we don’t have a problem?
30,000 children a day are truant from school. Most probably committing some type of petty crime or minor assault. Youth crime and especially assaults is climbing. This group are the future adults of this country who will move from this onto more violent crimes. Most murders are now committed by teenangers and young adults.
Nice to see you live in safe and happy world.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:05 am
And John Key’s solution to Southern Raider’s tale of woe?
Er, breakfast.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:05 am
Having met and heard Key speak directly on these issues, I know he has been thinking about them for some time and been taking the time to visit the areas he speaks about and directly see the issues there.
One of his concerns is disincentives to work that schemes like WFF and tax creep are putting in place. Those concerns are real because there are people turning down job promotions because they would endanger their WFF benefit.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:05 am
Thank you Owen for providing a sane rational explanation of the situation In addition I and others have argued for 30 years that we should have an income splitting tax regime to recognise the worth of traditional Mum and Dad families. Of course the feminists and their supporters long ago trampled on this concept and now we all reap the disaster of the failed Socialists experiment.
Vote:The PM has now given up on the problem having been a prime mover in creating this first as a member of the Princes St Branch of the Labour Party and then as MP for Mt Albert.She knows in her heart that the policies she and others promoted have been the source of one parent families child abuse crime and every other social problem.Only a total dimbulb will argue that a child born into a loving 2 parent family where Dad goes to work and Mum stays home stands the less likely chance of failing to succeed as an adult.
Those of us who have tried to promote the traditional ways have been subject to a torrent of abuse by those who want a no care no responsibility everthing is my right society. These selfish take and no give one way streeters have lead us to where we are now.The fix isnt easy which is why the PM on national radio has now washed her hands of the whole matter.
January 31st, 2007 at 10:14 am
I had to laugh at this mornings Herald as someone who has lived in Auckland for the last 35 years I have never heard of Owairaka (McGehan Street)a quick check up on wises and I see that it is a small suburb in the middle of MOUNT ALBERT thats right its in the middle of She Who Must Be Obeyed’s own electoral boundaries.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am
Since someone has already put the Labour fact sheet into the mix, thought your readers might benefit from seeing the National fact sheet on this. Available online, as well, at:
http://www.national.org.nz/files/_00_Key_The_Growing_Underclass.doc
The Growing Underclass – Some facts & stories
Living Standards
• The number of Kiwis living in severe hardship has been rising. In 2004 one-quarter (24%) of the population was living in “some”, “significant”, or “severe” hardship, about the same as 2000. But within those categories the number in “severe” hardship has risen 3 percentage points, while those in “some” hardship declined 3 percentage points, indicating that severe poverty is affecting more people. The figures come from the Social Development Ministry’s Social Report.
• The Living Standards Report 2004 showed the portion of Maori families living in severe hardship has risen to 17%, up from 7% in 2000. For Pacific Island families, the figure rose from 15% to 27%.
Law & Order
• Violent crime by youths aged 14-16 rose 27% between 1996 and 2005.
• When the youth gangs issue flared in Counties-Manukau in late 2005, Otara youth workers commented that they were shocked by the “new tone” in street gang battles. “There’s no sense of values, no sense of morals, it’s scary,” said Sully Paea.
• As well as Counties-Manukau, youth gang problems have also been reported in other centres such as the North Shore, West Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, and Wellington.
• Police Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls had cited the “LA influence” playing its part in rising youth gang violence, mainly in South Auckland.
• Methamphetamine offences rose 61% between 2004-05 and 2005-06.
• There were 56 murders last year, or one a week on average. A quarter of murders involved offenders under the age of 20.
• The cost of vandalism in schools has been estimated at $10m a year.
• 2007 kicked off with a spate of murders – seven to January 16 – and serious assaults. Among the dead are an innocent father of two gunned down in the Lower Hutt hills, a 77-year old woman stabbed to death in her North Shore home, and a 10-year-old girl killed in her Christchurch home after being sexually assaulted. Victims of assaults and sex crimes included a woman left unconscious after being assaulted by a man in Pukehina in the Bay of Plenty, a man being sexually assaulted by another man in a Wellington carpark, a man who had his car keys embedded in the back of his neck after an assault in Levin, and two men assaulting three teens unprovoked in Palmerston North’s main street.
Education/Sport/Nutrition
• 43% of school leavers from low-decile schools have no qualifications according to the Ministry of Education.
• Only 11% of decile 1-3 school leavers are eligible to enter university compared to 43% in decile 8-10 schools.
• 30,000 pupils are truant from school on any given day.
• 35% of students in low-decile schools fail to obtain the NCEA literacy standard, compared to 17% at high decile schools.
• The PPTA released a paper last year showing assaults on teachers have risen substantially in recent years.
• A recent study by a Victoria University student found that nearly 1,500 children in the Wellington region went to school without having had breakfast, and a further 437 often didn’t take lunch to school.
• In August last year, after-school sport for children in Otahuhu collapsed. The suburb’s five primary schools – all decile 1 and with 2,200 children – stopped organising sports at a local recreation centre because families couldn’t afford the fee increase from $2 a head for each game to $4-$5 a head.
• The Hilary Commission says there is evidence of dwindling membership of sports clubs, and increased running costs.
• SPARC says 32% of young people aged 5-17 are inactive – ie they do less than two-and-a-half hours of physical activity a week.
Child Abuse
• The number of established child abuse cases has more than doubled since 2000 according to Child Youth and Family. In 2000 there were 6068 recorded cases of substantiated abuse. This had risen to 13,570 in 2005.
• Unicef’s 2003 Report Card listed New Zealand as having the third worst rate of child homicide in the developed world.
Welfare
• The most recent statistics from the Ministry of Social Development showed that 234,000 children were dependent on income-tested benefit recipients – that’s about one in four of the nation’s children.
• As of November 2006 126,000 people were getting either the sickness or invalids benefit – up from 85,000 in 1999, an increase of nearly 50%.
• The number of people getting a working-age income-tested benefit for more than four years has risen from 97,000 in 2001 to 99,000 in 2006. So while there are less people getting the benefit, the numbers in long-term welfare are actually increasing.
Labour’s approach to non-government sector
• The Briefing to the Incoming Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector noted that the ‘demands of participating in multiple government-led consultations and policy conversations’ was a problem for the sector.
• Groups identified the need for the Government to streamline various funding pools and auditing processes across government agencies.
• A Youth Development Symposium last year noted that many felt duplication was encouraged by government silos and policies, programmes needed to be driven by the community, for the community, the ‘flavour of the month’ approach needed to be discarded, chasing funds led to less time in service delivery, and government was too often issues-based which led to fragmented services
Research: National Party Research Unit
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am
Thank you Owen for providing a sane rational explanation of the situation In addition I and others have argued for 30 years that we should have an income splitting tax regime to recognise the worth of traditional Mum and Dad families.
Try thinking about the Universal Income idea. In a very simplistic nutshell imagine if:
1. Everyone over the age of 18yrs, received say $10k pa as a Universal Income, paid at say $200 pw directly into your bank account…regardless of income, marital status, assets…absolutely universal.
2. All other income was taxed at a flat rate of say 33%. ie the first dollar earned by a 18yr old flipping burgers was taxed at the same rate as Teresa Gattung’s last dollar in her bonus this year.
3. You then eliminate ALL other major welfare mechanisms, ie the dole, sickness, DBP, and Superannuation.
If we had the guts to truly look at this I believe it really would be the revolutionary change we are ALL looking for.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Labour MP’s are scum, and labour voters are vermon.
And sonic is still our lab rat.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Labour MP’s are scum, and labour voters are vermon.
And sonic is still our lab rat.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Labour MP’s are scum, and labour voters are vermon.
And sonic is still our lab rat.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Judging from the bile most of the commentors here are spewing JK could well be on the right track.
I always think the longer the negative comments on a post the more likely it has captured some essence that scares the shit out of political opponents.
I will be interested to see the policy.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:21 pm
“labour voters are vermon”
Not a colour I am familiar with, it is a kind of blue/green?
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I just saw your website redrag. It’s quite interesting, fits your personality very well- http://www.redrag.co.nz is that you?
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Sam,
I have to spell it out.
Read the stats from the link above.
I just think that using the TOTAL crime figure is a bit misleading as some crimes carry more weight than others. To illustrate my point we could have the murder rate increase to 10 murders per day but then claim that crime has fallen (and NZ is therefore safer) because of a small decrease in reported dishonesty.
Look at the VIOLENT category as that is the one I am referring to. I am not disputing that reported dishonesty has fallen more than violent has increased thus giving a lower TOTAL.
From 1995 to 1999 the violent figure is relatively static. from 1999 to latest it jumps by 22% (from 39 to 48 thousand). Even when you factor in the population increase that still gives a 7% higher violent crime rate per capita.
That is sad.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 1:44 pm
redrag
Logical it may be but it faces philosophical issues in relation to making all nzers into beneficiaries regardless of need. I wonder if it really is as simple a system as you state.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Good speech John, a Burnside rugby lad, who played in the front row engine room
So did I, apart from my sole glory year as a dynamic and enterprising loose forward. But did he play rugby, as opposed to squash? I don’t remember him.
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Logical it may be but it faces philosophical issues in relation to making all nzers into beneficiaries regardless of need.
Think of it as a tax cut….
Vote:January 31st, 2007 at 10:16 pm
The more enlightened and well travelled amongst us here, will know that there is no such thing as ‘poverty’ in NZ. Which (paradoxically), lies at the heart of NZ’s economic woes.
Vote:February 1st, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Why doesn`t John Key just say he wants to stop welfare altogether,team up with Muriel Newman and her cohort of neo nazis, consequently triple the number of rapists and violent offenders, then bring the army in to shoot them all, i guess thats what they really want.
Vote:February 2nd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
“The more enlightened and well travelled amongst us here, will know that there is no such thing as ‘poverty’ in NZ. Which (paradoxically), lies at the heart of NZ’s economic woes. ”
Thats true! , But there soon would be if national had another innings!,
Ive spent the whole of the 70s and 80s travelling, and ive always been proud of NZ and the welfare we have, depicts a caring society, lets keep it that way, Vote Labour.
got no time for the cheating lying backstabbing nats, never have never will, tell me one good thing theyve done for the poor of NZ?.
As far as i can see Keys is just another benefishiary basher blowoff.
have you notice how all nats have the same greedy look about them, dirtbags the lot of them.
Vote:May 19th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
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Vote:May 19th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
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Vote:May 19th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
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Vote: