KEY POINTS:
The Rugby World Cup and the development of a new or upgraded stadium has caused much public discussion and angst over the past month. Debate has waxed and waned over location, the likely real cost and the effects of such a huge structure on the neighbourhood.
Central government intervention - telling Aucklanders to make a decision within two weeks - raised issues of local and regional governance, along with questions about our ability to build a world-class stadium and a world-class city.
The public of Auckland logged on to voting sites on the web, called radio opinion polls, jammed the phone lines of TV One and filled the pages of the Herald with the names of those for and against the proposed new waterfront stadium.
The public debate around the siting of the stadium has awakened the voice of the general public. Aucklanders are very obviously caring about Auckland. It is clear our vision is to make Auckland a world-class, vibrant, beautiful and inclusive city. To do this, we need a vision that is commonly held and to work together to achieve it.
A vibrant, economically prosperous city is not just about infrastructure, buildings and billboards - and stadiums. A city is about people and the quality of life they can enjoy as a result both of the physical environment and the social fabric of the city.
It would take three stadiums to seat the number of children living in poverty in Auckland, another to seat prison inmates and people serving community sentences nationwide. We would need a further two stadiums to seat the number of children in decile one schools and another two for the victims of domestic violence.
The links between poverty and violence and offending are clearly documented. The long-term costs of providing social support in the form of benefits and welfare departments, of building and running youth detention centres, of housing the prison population and dealing with the effects of family violence, are well documented.
The recently released Ministry of Social Justice New Zealand Living Standards report states that a quarter of all New Zealanders - around 1 million - are living in hardship (that's 16 stadiums), and a fifth of these cope with severe hardship.
Analysis of Census data by a team of sociologists at Auckland University shows that while high-income families are better off, the real wages of median and low-income earners have been either static or falling over the past 20 years and benefit levels have not recovered in real terms from the cuts of the late 1980s and 1991. The number of those in poverty has increased.
For many social-services providers, Christmas highlights the effects of this continuing and growing poverty, and higher than usual numbers of people are seeking help for food parcels, clothing and accommodation. Women's refuges are overflowing with the increase in domestic violence.
Aucklanders respond generously at this time of the year to those adversely affected by hardship and circumstances beyond their control. The people of the city donate food, money and time to make life easier for thousands of families. The Christmas presents and festive food they drop off at the Auckland City Mission will at least enable these families to celebrate this Christmas.
But all of this Christmas goodwill, however wonderful, will not change the underlying economic, political and social causes of entrenched poverty. To give our children a real future requires more than Christmas presents and extra food for hampers.
If we want to have a more positive social report for Auckland (and indeed the whole country) we need to make dealing with issues of poverty, low school achievement and violence a political priority. And we need to develop more effective national and regional governance to be able to deliver the goods - along with a great stadium..
I am all for hosting the Rugby World Cup and adding vibrancy to Auckland - just let's not forget that it takes more than iconic buildings and sporting events to make our city a great place to live.
* Diane Robertson is the Auckland City Missioner.
