A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
We are sad and fearful that New Zealanders have voted for some pretty cruel policies. National have never been friends of the poor and have said they’ll sanction beneficiaries once again. We remember Ruth Richardson and then Paula Bennett and Anne Tolley did the same.
We remember Peggy Noble andSusan Cleveland, the two Winz workers who were shot and killed by a client in their Ashburton office. There was a subsequent need to pay for security staff at all of their offices to protect the staff from deprived, hungry and desperate people. It was later found that many had not been given their full entitlements.
All we see is harsher poverty coming for many. It is without doubt the single worst kind of outcome because that is the foundation of every negative statistic that we see — crime, poor health, lack of education and loss of opportunity, street dwelling or living in cars; all are derivatives of poverty.
In the end it breeds violence and unrest, leading eventually to the rise of gangs and terrorism.
New Zealand has voted for that; it is how first world countries become third world.
Let’s hope our new Govt has better sense than to repeat past mistakes and will ensure all NZers are able to live decent lives and participate fully. After all, there is money to give landlords and property developers $billions in tax cuts and tax breaks.
We do not need the proven consequences that have manifested themselves under past National govts. It’s so easy to bash unfortunates and the already deprived, but it rarely has good outcomes either for the poor or the rest of society.
We sincerely hope our new Govt chooses to allay our fears and sadness.
