Campbell Roberts: A serious commitment to dealing with poverty

COMMENT

For the one in three Kiwi kids in families now living below the poverty line, this Budget will help. It is the first Budget in recent history that makes a significant commitment to dealing with poverty in New Zealand.

Every day, the Salvation Army's community service workers see the harrowing reality of mums and dads who do not have enough money to meet the basic needs of their family life. This Budget puts more money in their pockets, and that will mean more food, heating and clothing for children.

Assistance with childcare costs, extra money for alcohol and drug treatment and removing barriers to paid work will enable people to have better futures.

The Budget assistance packages mean we can work with people in critical life situations knowing that there are means to help them overcome some of the practical and financial barriers they face.

If we have a disappointment about this Budget, it is that some of the help does not start for a few years.

Families live in poverty now and the Government should move as quickly as is fiscally possible to implement the income support measures.

Measures increasing the accommodation supplement and building extra state houses are welcome but, on their own, are not comprehensive enough to deal with the desperate housing need that is a major cause of poverty.

We hope that the recently released NZ Housing Strategy will provide a further chance to fund more innovative solutions.

This is a Budget that gives help to families battling with costs. It is a significant step in the fight to abolish poverty in New Zealand.

* Major Campbell Roberts is head of the Salvation Army's social policy and parliamentary unit