And in the face of such a desolate statistic and reality , a tentative sense of hope is created at the very fact that this report was asked for.  We only ask for information when we know there is a problem and are generally ready to hear the answer.

That there is a problem is clear.  Are we ready to engage, however, with the difficult tensions that must be held to find a way through to stop this suffering?  That is a whole other question.

That makes me most anxious is seeing the report measure suffering against economic viability.  How much money is well being worth?  How much is the alleviation of suffering worth?  Are we really so lost or morally deficient that economic viability is the only factor we consider?

Where is our dignity?

How much must our young ones suffer before we say enough is enough.

Improving the Transitions for Adolescents, an extensive report compiled by an eminent group of researchers after reviewing the relevant literature, advises lawmakers that their job is to ‘strike a balance between protecting young people from harm and allowing them enough freedom to learn from their mistakes’.  A balancing act most parents will already be familiar with.

Whilst there is no new earth shattering news to report, the group may be hoping that, at the very least, the government heeds the recommendation that interventions must be evidence based rather than as the result of advocacy from pressure groups.

Evidence though, can come in a variety of forms.  Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, argue that what they call our broken societies and economies result not from the problems of any particular individual or group, but from the growth of inequality.

Take mental health for instance, a significant focus for the Improving the Transition group.  The Spirit Level shows that a much higher percentage of the population suffer from mental illness in countries where there is income inequality and New Zealand is high on this list.

Income inequality, where there are huge gaps between rich and poor, is a difficult issue to face when we have swallowed whole the notion of the individual being largely responsible for determining their own destiny.  It is tantamount to saying that the way we have been structuring society is fundamentally flawed.

Entertaining this idea leads to an examination of what constitutes a reasonable life for everyone, not just those that can fend for themselves through difficult times.  It raises questions about the authenticity of scapegoating groups that we consider particularly troublesome instead of considering that we might all be part of the problem.  A politically risky undertaking for any government.

Instead, what normally happens is that the problems of a particular group are highlighted, in this case youth.  Taskforces are formed, research undertaken and reports produced in the hope that their problems can be solved outside of the driving issue of inequality.

Wilkinson and Pickett say, ‘The unstated hope is that people – particularly the poor – can carry on in the same circumstances, but will somehow no longer succumb to mental illness, teenage pregnancy, educational failure, obesity or drugs’. (p239)

Being not right in the head is often solved for teenagers as they age and their brains develop.  Being not right in the head as a society takes longer to fix.

Among its findings, the report said New Zealand “has a woefully deficient number of mental health services that are aimed specifically at young people”.

“Furthermore, doctors, teachers, and parents are poorly trained to identify those young people who might be at risk,” the report said.

“Given that the opportunity for successful intervention is greatest when the intervention occurs early, it is economically sensible to increase the mental health work force in New Zealand, particularly those who are specifically trained to work with children and adolescents.”

It found there are capacity deficits for both mental health screening and treatment, although acknowledged in the current economic climate more cost effective ways need to be found to identify and treat adolescents who are at risk.

“Preliminary work, for example, has shown that therapy provided on-line, or e-therapy, holds some promise for treating adolescents with anxiety and depression. The other advantage of e-therapy is that the cost is low and there is little or no barrier to access.”

Better screening to detect those with mental health issues, and improved access to therapy are also recommended.

“Given the concerns about the possibility that antidepressants can increase the risk of self-harm, increasing access to psychological therapies for young people would be important.”

Read Article Paul HArper in NZ Herald

Image: new.stv.

Seriously his symbolic value could be the most powerful aspect. This position is a key one (Representative of the Queen)  and becomes more important as NZ edges towards becoming a republic. Maori in general oppose this trend because the link to the Crown as a treaty partner is a taonga. A successful Maori Governor-General would pave the way to a truly mandated non-political leader of this country.

His common sense leadership will encourage Maori to follow their elected political leaders, and not the radical element who support a separatist kawanatanga. This appointment indirectly honours the Maori battalion and those Maori who at present find mana and careers in the armed forces.

This appointment moves NZ away from its colonial past, and its mono-cultural mindset. We all stand to gain if Jerry Mataparae is a great success.

Feb. 16 (BusinessDesk – DomPost) – The price of milk powder rose to the highest level since Fonterra Cooperative Group began its online auctions in July 2008, reflecting climbing world food prices and boding well for the payout for the dairy exporter’s 11,000 dairy farmers.

The gDT-TWI price rose 3.9%, following a 7.9% jump in the previous auction two weeks ago. The average winning price across the various dairy products on offer was US$4,540 per metric tonne, up from US$4,246 per metric tonne at the last sale.

Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said this week that prices for whole milk powder will probably stay at least 50% above their long-term average on rising demand from emerging markets. He told Bloomberg News that higher prices “are the new normal” and further gains are likely “before we start burning off demand.”

Whole milk powder rose 7.9% across all three contracts on offer. Skim milk powder rose 0.7% and anhydrous milk fat fell 2.4%. There were no prices for butter milk powder.

There were 68 winning bidders out of 121 who participated. There are 312 qualified bidders all up.

The Reserve Bank expects the strength in New Zealand’s primary sector will slowly filter through to the wider economy once farmers repay debt.

Related Articles

Fonterra won’t raise milk prices this year

Supermarkets do not guarantee to follow Fonterra’s lead

Here is a tale of children wanted and nurtured by loving parents backed up by a health system which is energised by their plight.

It saddens me, though, to think about the many children of beneficiaries of New Zealand’s welfare system who will not celebrate Christmas this year with anything more than the barest necessities of life.

The Alternative Welfare Working Group’s report from earlier this month told many stories of people who struggle with the small amount of money the benefit gives them in the face of a sceptical government whose social welfare minister seems driven to punish them for being who they are.

The report points to a punitive culture emerging in Work and Income offices throughout the country. ‘…staff must be focused on treating people with utmost respect and dignity and ensuring applicants receive their full entitlements accurately’ (Welfare Justice For All p 159).

New Zealand has one of the worst records among OECD countries for child victims of domestic violence. This violence is often a symptom of a lack of human dignity accorded to beneficiaries and those at the bottom of the heap.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could multiply the support given to the Edwards family to encompass all those children whose parents do not get the same help from the system. Then all we have to do is address this country’s cultural need to punish each other. Bah humbug!

I think of many people who are called to love a member of their family in an extraordinary way.  Parents like Janine whose whole lives are consumed in giving special love to a child.  Those who sacrifice the liberty of mid life to attend to an elderly dependent parent.  Family members whose lives are confined by the special needs of a sibling.  All such people are saintly lovers.  They will not abandon their loved ones at any cost. Without such people our nation would be bereft.  Yet often they don’t seem to be appreciated or supported by government or local communities.

I think also of those professional caregivers who work tirelessly for meagre remuneration.  Their work can be heavy, messy, inconvenient and discouraging yet day after day they attend to small details which mean so much to those in need.  Without them our society would fail in its duty to care for the needy.  Yet these caregivers are often unrecognised and taken for granted.

I hope that all caregivers, family or professionals, will feel the admiration of our society and receive the support they rightfully need.  And I pray that I will emulate these unsung heroes and be as concerned for them as they are for others.

Rowena Orejana’s article, ‘Who cares?’ offered an overview of the problems faced by families of autistic children, some of who have multiple disabilities.  Respite care is a lifeline for their families who, like all workers, need breaks to relax and refresh.  However, once a child turns 17, age appropriate respite care becomes harder to access.  West Auckland appears to have particular problems that parents, advocacy groups and the Ministry of Health are now focused on.

The trouble is these kinds of ongoing resourcing problems don’t attract much interest, unlike a mining disaster.  While the friends and families of the Pike River miners suffered enormously, somehow the way that story was reported and we responded to it tilted our world on its axis so that everything else became irrelevant.

We live in a world of rolling disasters. Big stories made gargantuan by journalists streaming live through Twitter before the 6 o’clock news creates ad wrapped, bite sized packages for us to swallow whole.  The effect is to leave us wrung out and compassionless for anything other than the big story. And truth be told, our concern is short-lived, only operational until we are diverted, at this time of year by the annual glut of consumerism that masquerades as Christmas.   That’s why aid agencies always have to act fast on the back of gut wrenching visuals.

Despite the wrap and snack approach favoured by the mainstream media, long-term human problems are harder to digest.  In the middle of changing nappies on an incontinent elder, visiting your brain damaged uncle imprisoned for assault or picking up your sister’s autistic kid who has been bullied at school again, we are entitled to ask desperate questions about how long we can hang on to our shredded threads of sanity.  We might even wonder what role our community has in giving us a hand, even though we haven’t got a hope in hell of making the news.

And a similar picture extends across the board – to schooling, nutrition, accommodation, transport, leisure, domestic violence, policing etc.  And families on a benefit are acutely aware of this. They face it in their daily grind of struggling to survive.

Prices for basics continue to rise beyond the amount of their benefit. So it becomes a question of what is next to cut out –  power, accommodation, telephone, car, doctor visits, dental care, technology, appliances, holiday breaks, sports, school activities, birthday gifts, fruit, milk, babysitting etc – the list goes on. Such decisions are not neglect, they are decisions necessary to make ends meet.

Opportunities for extra-income have “recessed”. Work and Income exercise tight emergency benefit rules. In the main, relief from Church charities is limited to a few hand-outs.  (Scrutiny of their public appeal and op-shop incomes against the amounts actually distributed is surely warranted.)

Then there is the despair from low self esteem. Not for society’s poor are the paid counselling services, self improvement courses, advocacy training, artistic development, public entertainment, travel, holidays or shopping therapy.  The services that reach out to them are aimed at ensnaring – loan sharks, gambling parlours, fast food and liquor/drug outlets.

Then there is the pain from being labelled bludgers and cheats – outcasts who should be punished. Similarly accused politicians, financers, professional abusers, legal-aid lawyers and public heroes “spin” out of scandals to remain socially acceptable. Their families and colleagues stand by them.

The signs of hope may not be so clear. There are some, but many more are needed.

When public leaders proclaim their humble origins, poor mothers (and most parents are solo mothers) glimpse hope that their talented children, given the chance, might also reach their full potential.

The rise of the Maori party gives hope that at last there may be an effective organisation that empowers and represents the concerns of the poor – Maori and non-Maori alike.

Service providers such as Mental Health pursue empowerment for the lives of their members.  Their consumers now have full participation on the very Boards that govern their lives.

Community workers are gaining the respect of the disadvantaged and marginalised.  Poverty diminishes spiritual health. Genuine caring and support raises up the spirits and hope of the poor.

The AA organisations existing to overcome dependencies (eg alcohol, drugs, gambling, over-eating, debts etc) evidence that recovery is possible. But that requires will and motivation – a decision to recover and human support.

A community based course in New York links up “have” and a “have not” in partnerships forged through overcoming joint challenges.  They then commit to an ongoing mentoring relationship.

The poor will not accept either punishment or pulpit.  No, but they welcome caring people who will stand alongside and then commit to walking together.  Is that a true Christmas present opportunity?

At the same time a TVNZ Closeup documentary highlighted the fact that children’s healthcare is free only 9am to 5pm. After hours, children are charged the same as everyone else. Some interviewed for the programme said they would often wait until the child was sick enough to take to the hospital where treatment is free. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says we are seeing growing levels of preventable child illness not being seen these days in many other OECD countries.

CPAG’s Anne Else said those levels of illness are ‘clearly linked to poverty and to the wide disparity in incomes and standards of living.

‘It is not just a question of sick kids. The damage done in childhood stays with the children right through their lives, impeding their earning capacity and wellbeing.’

She says the major group of people in poverty are children themselves.

A 2008 Ministry of Social Development report shows that prices of core family items have risen faster than both inflation and average wages. These include housing, energy and transport. Yet the housing supplement has not risen since 2005.

A Dominion Post article quotes the MSD’s 2009 Household incomes Report: ‘child poverty rates rose from 2007 to 2008 after falls from 2001 to 2007 … because housing costs rose sharply from 2007 to 2008, especially for low-income households’ (Nov 27, 09). So children were worse off even before the recession.

Says Anne Else, ‘It’s such a short-sighted, stupid thing for the country to do in terms of its future. We are going to need all those children as workers to be doing the best they can to support, for example, an ageing population so this is a really serious issue that successive governments have not done nearly enough to deal with.’

She says the Working for Families supplement did lift a lot of working families out of poverty but it didn’t help the children of beneficiaries. It combined a form of child benefit that’s paid to the caregiver with a work incentive. ‘Now when families lose their job they lose their 60percent tax credit so they’re poorer than ever.’

CPAG is calling for a return to the universal family benefit, or at least, a separation between the benefit and work incentives.

Someone has cynically suggested that children do not rate in this country because they are not old enough to vote. This puts into perspective Jesus’ shocking suggestion in Mark 10 that the Kingdom of God belongs to children. It would be great if this country were to treat its children as they deserve to be treated so that they could indeed experience the Kingdom of God.