frogblog

All political parties have mantras. Can I suggest that Labour’s is: “Under this government, all problems have been solved!” By which I mean, whenever a problem is raised - no matter from which place on the political spectrum - Labour’s response to is say, “Don’t worry. We’re on it. Either we’ve already solved that problem or we’re in the process of dealing with it. Get with the programme. ”

However, as welcome as it is that unemployment is at historically low levels, we shouldn’t assume that Labour has made poverty history. There are still many members of our society who aren’t doing so well, as two reports in today’s Herald on Sunday attest.

The first is about Auckland’s homeless. A survey by the Auckland Rough Sleepers Initiative has estimated that about 150 people are “sleeping rough” on the city streets within a 3km radius of the Sky Tower. These people spend their nights in doorways, bus shelters, cars, public toilets, parks, building sites, and under bridges.

The second is about a Social Development Ministry study about people on sickness and invalid benefits. The number of people on such benefits has increased considerably in the last decade (the number of sickness beneficiaries has increased by a third, and the number of invalid beneficiaries has doubled in that period). The study identified a number of possible reasons for these changing numbers, including increases in New Zealand society of:

• financial hardship
• feelings of isolation
• methamphetamine abuse
• obesity
• stress
• bipolar disorder
• depression

National’s Judith Collins, quoted in the story, sees people going back to work as a solution to some of these problems. “One of the best ways to deal with depression is to keep working,” she says.

Perhaps. But those who believe in a welfare state must accept that some people are so ill that they will never be able to work again, and that a compassionate society is prepared to pay a financial price for that. Also, we must accept that the way to help people get better is not to “get tough” and force them on to the streets with the other “rough sleepers”, but rather to work with them compassionately to try to treat their medical problems.

And, even more important, we must look at tackling the root causes of the factors identified in the MSD study. Take obesity as an example. How can we best ensure that our new generation of Kiwi kids don’t grow up fat? Can I offer two modest proposals? First: ban advertising on children’s television, so kids aren’t bombarded by advertising for junk food. Second: regulate, or at least offer suggestions about, what foods schools should be selling and what foods they shouldn’t.

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