Opinion
In smallish communities in South Taranaki and Wanganui, we know each other pretty well. We are aware of unemployment rising and falling. We live in an electorate that has been hit by both recession and growth on the back of a strong export economy. At different times, we've had high unemployment but also enjoyed high numbers of jobs in various industries. Across our communities, people support each other and we have a very high rate of volunteerism. There is a lot to do.
This past weekend was the end of an era for our family, as my Mum had decided to move into a studio in the local rest home. It took her some time to come around to it, but after my father passed away 18 months ago, and with her failing eyesight, she lost confidence to carry on at home. I spent the weekend waterblasting, gardening, painting and cleaning the house I grew up in, when the memories came flooding back.
On low incomes for all their working lives, my parents always kept a garden. It was huge when we were young; it fed us, as well as others from time to time. The house was small but well maintained. Wages were spent frugally. Holidays were always close to home and saved for throughout the preceding year. A new TV, radio, fridge or vacuum cleaner was saved for in advance and, when it arrived, the documentation was carefully filed away with warranty and instruction manual. All of this I found on Sunday morning.
When I was a kid, Mum worked at home as a dressmaker and Dad was a display artist in a store in town. He supplemented his income writing plays for radio, children's series, and in this way they paid the bills and gave us a few luxuries. Like most kids, we shared clothes among friends and relatives, but new clothes came along quite frequently with a mother who could sew. Most of the time there was a jersey or cardigan being knitted for one of the four of us. It was a normal Kiwi upbringing in the 1960s.
This week, the Government announced welfare reforms that will encourage people to get off benefits and into work by requiring people to be "work ready". If there is a suitable job available, they take that job. Young people on benefits will receive budget mentoring and will not be able to spend their benefit on alcohol or cigarettes. Rent and power will be paid automatically and there will only be a limited amount of money that can be spent at their discretion. Sole parents will have to be work-ready for part-time employment when their youngest child is 5 years old and available for full-time work when their youngest child is 14 years old. They will stay on a benefit only if there are no suitable jobs. Our opponents call this "beneficiary bashing".
