In an age where the gap between rich and poor in New Zealand is steadily widening, the government has a duty to not just implement new technology that will benefit the rich, but even to target it primarily at those who are so often left out of our thinking. We hear a lot about India’s rapid economic progress, but much less about the fact that there are millions of youth in India who just can’t find a job

Brazil has the goal of giving every school-age child a personal wi-fi lap-top, and to this end has entered into a contract with a major computer firm to manufacture a computer that is a distinctive colour and size and will not be sold commercially. This whole commitment is solely aimed at poor children.

At the moment anyone can access the internet in public libraries. This at least gives the possibility of being part of the IT age to those willing to make the effort to go to the library. However we now hear even this is threatened by new legislation which could take a public library to court if someone (unknown) was downloading material for which they did not have the appropriate licence. Another example of how so many things, unwittingly, are slanted to benefit the well-off, who do not need to go to public libraries for internet access. How ironic if the effect of UFB was to remove what little internet access they presently have, from our New Zealand poor.

Any death by shooting is a tragedy but this seems doubly so. Whatever happened there are two broken families and two children without a mother. There is a reaching out from the accused man’s family to the family of the dead woman. In the midst of tragedy there is an attempt at human healing.

What the background to all this has yet to be revealed. However we can see that in the midst of a tragic death there is grace and goodness. The family of the accused is assisting the dead woman’s family with the funeral arrangements. The accused man is described as sobbing in the cells. Whatever his exterior bravado might have been is not the whole story.

While recognizing that a wrong has been done, and family lives changed for ever, there is also the human development of the accused man. What will become of him? Are they sobs of repentance? Sobs of shock? Sobs of shame? Sobs of lostness in the face of the wheels of the police and judicial systems? Sobs of fear at what will become of him?

Throw him in prison for as long as possible many might say. Is that any real answer to the tragedy here? Purely punitive approaches do not bring the wider healing needed

On the one hand we have the shooting which is said to have taken place during a domestic incident on Sunday afternoon – perhaps in the heat of an argument – and on the other, there is the inevitable poverty that comes with young parents and children compounded by relentless cuts in benefits.

There will be many other factors – the 26-year-old man charged with the crime allegedly had no firearms licence, the 23-year-old victim had an ‘older’ son which suggests her parenting started when she was probably still in need of parenting herself.

In the week in which this story appeared in the media, Child Poverty Action Group economist Susan St John is reported to have said that the government has removed gift duty but introduced what is effectively a gift duty for the poor. The changes aim to protect the Working for Families (WFF) tax credit scheme from ‘well-off cheats hiding assets in trusts’. But if a grandmother regularly pays for daycare, this payment will affect the family’s ability to claim WFF.

At the same time the government has announced it will stop funding a self-defence course for girls in schools throughout the country. In the past 16 years, 77,000 12-year-olds have learned how to keep themselves safe from violence and sexual abuse. One teacher says a quarter of girls are abused before they reach 16; the percentage rises to 30 in Maori communities. Other cuts target adult education.

What are we doing to our families when we remove the aids that have helped level out the playing field. In 2005 police recorded a total of 56,000 incidents of family violence. Three years later this statistic had risen to 72,000.

Is it any wonder that New Zealand does so badly in terms of family violence alongside other OECD countries?

I feel for the young man who sobbed in his cell. He is probably just as much a victim as his dead partner.

The foodbank had just two cans of tuna, three cans of beetroot, a can of corn, some spreads, baked beans and canned tomatoes earlier this week, director Stephanie McIntyre said. An appeal on Thursday had attracted donations, but those had quickly gone out the door.

The foodbank, which normally would have opened ahead of the long weekend, was forced to close on Thursday  -  though help was still available for those in dire need, with the agency having funds to buy food.

“The number of people asking for food has grown so rapidly that the quantity of food coming into the foodbank is going out the door straight away,” she said.

The foodbank gave out 903 food parcels in the first three months of this year, compared with 627 in the same period last year  -  a 44 per cent increase. ”What’s criminal is the increase in foodbank reliance we haven’t seen since the nineties.”

The increased demand was caused by rising living costs, less available part-time and casual work, less affordable housing, and Work and Income being more sparing with special needs grants for items such as food grants or high power bills, she said. ”There’s been a real tightening up of criteria.”

Wellington City Mission’s Father Des Britten said the centre was closed over the Easter break. There had been a recent increase in demand for food parcels but it was not “overwhelming”. For Easter, the mission added Easter eggs to food parcels, donated during a charity motorcycle run.

Source:
Tom Hunt Dom Post

Image: ISARC

To my surprise I found it was a contentious topic. We all agreed that times are tougher, food is more expensive and many people are unemployed. But there the consensus ended. There was a genuine questioning of why such an increased number of people are now attending food banks. Are they poor organizers? Do they need help with budgeting? Can’t they join a community garden group? The answer may be ‘yes’ to all of these questions but there is so much more to it.

In the past 25 years high earners have increased their incomes by more than 25%. At the same time people on lower incomes have seen their incomes actually decrease [ NZ Council of Christian Social Services.] New Zealand is “world leader”in growth in income inequality. We have gone from being one of the most equal countries to one of the most unequal in the OECD within two decades. This has been accompanied by worsening health and social outcomes: higher imprisonment rates, more teen pregnancies, rising obesity levels and poorer mental health.

I may have a statistical knowledge of all the above but actually how I view the world depends on where I stand. If I stand with the wealthy or even the mildly comfortable I contemplate the world from the heights of privilege. If however I stand with those who are poor, marginalised or oppressed then I shall contemplate the world from the experience of suffering and injustice. Then I have a better chance of glimpsing the world as God does—-a loving God who liberates us all and calls us to live as equal sisters and brothers, all God’s children.

I pray for a more understanding mind and heart.

Reading this article I am flooded with a sense of inevitability. While many sectors of New Zealand society are still feeling the pinch of the recession recent Ministry of Social Development initiatives show government continues to tighten the squeeze on those on the margins. How can this be illustrated more clearly than an empty food bank?

So why don’t the general population care enough to do something about it? One reason might be because middle to low-income earners are also feeling the pinch. Or could there be another reason? In our consumption-based existence I’m starting to think that everyday issues are not seen as attractive enough to lure the charity based contributions of ordinary New Zealanders.

The communities’ response to the tragic events of the Christchurch earthquake made me proud to be a New Zealander. From large-scale charity fundraisers to grass-roots community events everyone from finger-painting school kids to quintessentially popular sporting hero’s came forward to play there part in a revenue gathering drive of solidarity and nationalism.

But where is this idea of unity when it comes to supporting those on the margins in everyday life? Of course events in Christchurch captured our hearts and I am in no way suggesting that the support they received was unwarranted.

What did strike me though was the way all levels of society were able and willing to mobilise collective assistance for those in needs after this event. Maybe its my naive hope-coated idealism but I would love to believe in a time where everyday issues like people struggling to eat could be given this kind of promotion and support from society as a collective. I will be praying and also working towards a time when this sentiment could be more than an idealistic dream.

Speedy re-establishment of inner city businesses will be a significant recovery factor according to Richard Ballantyne, Executive Director of Ballantynes department store, a Christchurch institution and one of its biggest employers.

While Ballys can weather the storm, he is less optimistic about small businesses, some of who may be forced to leave the city to generate income.   However it happens, less business means more unemployed.

For some employers there is an earthquake support subsidy of $500 a week for fulltime employees and $300 a week for part timers.  This is more than the unemployment benefit but only payable for six weeks.  The usual benefits will be available after that, says Sue Rissman, Canterbury’s regional commissioner for social development.

Like the rhetoric that surrounds welfare, this statement has elements of truth.  It’s true that the unemployment benefit is available but only if you have less than $4,300 in cash resources.  So that nest egg you’ve been saving for a respite getaway break from Christchurch will have to be plundered before signing on.  Once you’ve achieved that, you must be available for any seasonal work in the area.  I suppose the clean up could qualify as seasonal.

Judging by the level of support from Kaitaia to Bluff, we wouldn’t tolerate this kind of hard-nosed approach to welfare for quake stricken Cantabrians.  After all, we know that these hard times are not their fault.

The Christchurch Methodist Mission, providing a cradle to grave service for 3000 clients, points out that benefit payments as a proportion of the average wage have continued to fall since the 1970s.  In part, this is because we swallowed whole the idea that there is a welfare dependency crisis.  The reality is that we are being moralistic, concerned as our forebears in the 1930’s were, about the distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor.  A distinction lost on the poor themselves as they struggle to pay the rent, feed and clothe themselves.

Recovery, as any addict, long term unemployed or solo parent on a benefit can tell you, is about much more than pulling your socks up or being work ready.  Interconnected layers of economic, social and familial factors all need to be in alignment, and stay that way for lasting progress to be made by even the most determined.  This is how it needs to be for Christchurch and for anyone facing hard times.  God help us if we ignore that.

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.

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Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for a record $US2.4m, Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan sold to Kolkata for $US2.1m while Kochi paid $US1.5m for Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene Fellow Black Caps Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum also earned IPL contracts but not as big as Taylor’s.

The New Zealand skipper was purchased by the Royal Challengers for $US550,000 ($NZ724,000) while McCullum was a surprise to only go for $US475,000 ($NZ625,160) to Kochi.

- Herald online 8 January

How Superstars’ Pay Stifles Everyone Else
New York Times December 25, 2010
Find out what your worth

No one can miss the irony and cruel paradox of these huge salaries paid to local and foreign players in one of the poorest countries in the world. NZ cricket and the international ICC tolerate these tournaments because the players will go anyway, and argue that this is like superannuation for players who have a limited shelf life. But these payments are like blood diamonds, and are money that could be reinvested in Indian infrastructure that will provide jobs and increase the pitifully small income per capita in India. It would only take one major cricket nation like England or Australia to ban their players past and present to hit this pirate cricket tournament on the head. NZ lost its best bowler Shane Bond for 2 years for playing for a rebel league, not the IPL which has ICC backing.

What can anyone do? Tell Cricket NZ the IPL is a scandal, tell the 5/6 NZ players we don’t approve of their participation. Lobby the ICC through our delegate. And above all, don’t watch it !