Dan Jackson: NZ is for sale and it's hurting us

THE next election will tell us more about ourselves as a nation than any TV documentary on history or flag debate ever could.

Effectively, electing a government is a reflection of our own values and priorities as we put people above us who we hope will do the things we see as important. To me, the defining issue will be People vs Profit.

Anyone with even a passing interest in our national politics will have noted over the past few decades that it doesn't seem to matter which party is elected, as relentless cutbacks to public service and sale of assets continue regardless. Often these cutbacks and sales make no sense and end up costing us as a nation while a select few get wealthier.

I read a horrifying article a while ago which said everything in the country had been or was being valued and used by the powers that be as collateral for offshore borrowing. Even the dirt beneath our roads was being leveraged. Everything you think New Zealand is has been given a price tag. I don't like that ... it makes me mad. Who gives these people the right to do this? Oh, that's right - us.

We do by voting them in. We do by letting them get away with this year after year. We do by sitting on our hands, worrying about our own small lives rather than drawing a line in the sand and saying "No".

This election, I hope there is enough public feeling to change that. This election, I hope whatever party/parties are put in power have been given enough of a fright by the voting public that they get back on track to making New Zealand a better place for everyone. This galls me to say, but it needs to be said - even drug addicts and alcoholics and criminals need a place to put their heads. It is unacceptable that New Zealand has homeless people.

Even our worst people deserve somewhere warm they can call home. Let that sink in for a moment. Even our worst.

I'm not saying that from some egalitarian high ground; I'm saying it from an entirely practical point of view.

Imagine a person strung out, hungry and living under a bridge. Are they going to give a flying toss about the little old lady walking by? No. They're going to smack her over the head and take her handbag for their next fix. You know why they don't care? Because they've got nothing left to lose and no one cares about them, so why should they care about others?

That little old lady could be my auntie; that junkie under the bridge could just as easily target your kids. Your kids could one day be that junkie.

Providing a basic safety net for people saves us money in the long run. It is far better to have people in homes, being treated and trying to regain some semblance of normality than have them running loose, causing untold damage. And it's damage to you and me - everyday people. It's not damaging the millionaires living behind mansion walls. Homelessness is just one issue. Pollution of our environment for profit, constant cutbacks in our healthcare, tax avoidance by the biggest corporations while small businesses suffer - these are just the tip of the iceberg of the issues facing us as a country. We need the good people of New Zealand to stand up and tell those we elect that they need to do a better job. It doesn't matter if your gang colours are red, blue or green - your first allegiance is to New Zealand and its people. Do you want to live in a country where the dollar has more value than you?

-Dan Jackson is a Whanganui journalist and part-time scrap metal dealer