Seems to me the comfortably-clad sceptics pondering whether the so-called "war on the poor" exists could try visiting the back-burbs of Hastings and Napier for answer.

Well, the National Party-led Government has certainly pulled a rabbit out of the hat, writes Andrew Austin.

Given the unrelenting attacks by regional council chairman Fenton Wilson on councillor Tom Belford, the Ruataniwha water storage scheme (RWSS) must be in dire straits.

They are calling it the "born free" general election- a staggering 20 years after the first democratic elections there.