Inflation Numbers Expose Govt's Economic Failure
'While Christopher Luxon talks about growth at all costs, New Zealanders across the country are being forced to choose between heating their home or feeding their families,' says Green Party Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.
'We can build an economy that works for people and planet, but that requires decisions that prioritise the wellbeing of all, instead of lining the pockets of those at the top.
'Luxon's Government is cutting investment and creating the conditions for severe unemployment, shredding the social safety net, pushing thousands into poverty, and then punishing them for it.
'A report this morning from the Child Poverty Action Group showed that rent, food, and utilities now swallow 62 – 98 per cent of disposable income for beneficiary families and over 60 per cent for full-time minimum-wage workers.
'A Green Government will do things differently. Instead of taxpayer subsidies for new gas fields in the middle of the climate crisis and slashing investment in our communities - we would rapidly reduce emissions, reduce the cost of living, and improve New Zealanders' quality of life.
'Christopher Luxon shows people who he works for in his actions every day. While telling regular people there's 'no magic money tree,' he's found billions for military spending, fossil fuel, tobacco, and landlord tax cuts.
'Luxon's Government now has the gall to blame Local Government, who have had their credit ratings downgraded because Luxon's Government pulled the rug out on fixing our water infrastructure.
'A better world is possible, and it starts with the sun setting on this one term Government,' says Chlöe Swarbrick.
Notes:
CPAG released a report today which found that 'Between 2018 and 2024, policy changes slowly reduced the number of households in weekly shortfall. From 2024 to 2025, the trend reverses."
The CPAG report also found that "Rent, food, and utilities now swallow 62 – 98 per cent of disposable income for beneficiary families and over 60% for full-time minimum-wage workers"
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Letters: Voting should be made easier, not more difficult
Vivien Fergusson, Mt Eden. Seymour's style David Seymour may not physically resemble Donald Trump, but his insulting, dismissive attitude towards those unlikely to support his party is strikingly Trumpian. Last month Seymour personally attacked eminent scholars who opposed his Regulatory Standards Bill, labelling them individually as 'victim of the day'. This week he calls New Zealanders who do not enrol to vote well before election day 'dropkicks'. The Act Party is the tail that wags this dog of a coalition and Seymour's divisive methods threaten our democracy in the same way as Trump's behaviour has brought the United States democracy into disrepute. Andrea Dawe, Sandringham. Food safety If Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard signs off on proposal P1055 by food authority FSANZ to redefine gene edited foods as 'Non-GMO', it will be a betrayal of consumers' basic right to know what we are eating. The minister says that removing tracing and labelling of GE food will make food cheaper, but the promise rings hollow. New Zealanders are paying record prices for butter because other countries are willing to pay more for quality products. How does taking away labelling of GE food and the right to choose change that? Jon Carapiet, Sandringham. Price of butter If 'Nicky no butter' sounds more annoying than 'Nicky no boats', Nicola Willis enigmatically reminded us she wasn't an expert on pricing at Fonterra but ... the price of butter is expected to fall. Really, how would she know? Funnily enough I thought her only expertise was in English literature not financial stuff. If 80% of the price is global pricing and 15% is GST then how can the 5% be even significant from retailers like supermarkets? More like a dropkick's chance of landing in a cow pat in 'footy' terms. Willis is an 'expert' at disguising the truth. Let's be honest it's her forte - not playing footy. The Nats are proud of how fast they've satiated the farming lobby shopping list of requests. Nine of 12 ticked off in half a term. Hasn't she done well. They're not going to put downward pressure on the local butter price any time soon. How idiotic you think they are claiming they would actually bring down the cost of living? Buttering up farmers is in a Nat's nature. Butter literally lubricates the electoral process. All you 'dropkicks' that don't vote know that. Steve Russell, Hillcrest. The real cost of food The angst over the increased food prices exposes the social expectation – something akin to a divine right – that food must be cheap. In New Zealand there is an unreasonable argument that because we have a strong agricultural sector then, somehow, we deserve cheap – even subsidised – food. In one of his last papers, renowned geographer, the late Professor Tony Allan (of King's College, London) persuasively argued that the price of food does not cover the true cost of food production. All political ideologies, Allan says, 'have imposed a system in which farmers deliver food at well below its real cost'. As a result, the price of food fails to cover costs incurred by the environment and public health. These costs, in economic speak, are 'externalised' outside the food price and are ultimately paid by the taxpayer. When we demand 'cheap food', we are selfishly saying that it's okay for the real cost of food to be borne elsewhere. Whether that is borne by farmers not being able to cover their input costs or tolerating environmental degradation or having poorer public health due to an inadequate diet. Don't be fooled; cheap food is a misnomer. We all pay the real cost of food – one way or another. Dr Murray Boardman, Dunedin. Passport changes I read with interest the decision to list English first on New Zealand passports, ahead of te reo Māori. This seems like a return to common sense. Wasn't it established some time ago that English should take precedence on official documents and government department signage to reduce confusion and ensure clarity for the majority? While te reo Māori is an important part of our heritage and deserves recognition, it is simply not widely understood — either within New Zealand or overseas. There is certainly room for Māori language to be included, but not as the primary language on key documents like passports, which are used internationally. English has long served as the clear, functional language for nearly all New Zealanders and for global communication. Unfortunately, some of the recent language and policy changes seem to complicate matters rather than make everyday life easier. It's worth asking: what is actually being achieved by introducing such confusion into areas where clarity is essential? Alan Walker, St Heliers. Vape regulations I cannot believe that a Government with the power to pass laws without due process has thrown themselves prostrate before the might of the vape industry and dropped the 2023 vaping regulations. This retraction as the 'best way to resolve the legal case' taken by Mason Corporation against them smells rotten. Casey Costello used the argument that the regulations were based on limited evidence to justify their withdrawal. I would have thought regularly sucking something into your lungs that is not meant to be there is sufficient, until evidence can be supplied to confirm or not the safety of these devices. Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe. Climate reparations The historic statement by the International Court of Justice that countries are obliged by international law to tackle climate change, and warning that failing to do so could open the door for reparations, will result in joy for all those who have been spending their lives protesting unsuccessfully for action. It will also see fear for governments and corporations who have been deliberately misleading us about the biggest issue of our time. Does this mean that protesters will not have to wave their placards to get action on climate issues, probably not, but they will be able to threaten court action as well and climate criminals will be well advised to listen. However, it's unlikely that they will be held accountable as countries have not ceded sovereignty to any UN agency's which means we are relying on moral pressure, and that may not work. The invasion of Ukraine was a shock to Western nations and illustrated the need to reform the UN Security Council and the first step is to remove the power of veto. NZ could take a leadership role in this as we are vulnerable in all areas, perhaps we could offer to cede some sovereignty to the United Nations if they provide protection from all large countries, who will not be named. Dennis Worley, Birkenhead. Why Putin? Why would one want to make a film about Putin with a list of war crimes as long as your arm and the murder of his critics along the way? It is bound to bring every sadistic man and his dog out of the woodwork and would be better off - much as the case of Adolf Hitler - best forgotten, and for that reason is bound to be a flop. If the powers to be that make movies were serious about making money which they clearly aren't, why not a film about the life of Donald Trump which would be a guaranteed box office sell out. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay. A quick word The court ruling found that nations have a legal responsibility to aggressively reduce their emissions, and that failing to do so would open the way for impacted nations to seek reparations. It specifically lists the production, use, exploration and subsidies of fossil fuels— both current and historic. Our continued, bipartisan failure to address our responsibility to our neighbours and our grandchildren now will have financial implications. We must act immediately to meet our Nationally Determined Commitment (NDC) to limit temperatures to less than 1.5C above preindustrial levels. Ian Swney, Morrinsville. Wellington councils are considering forming another Super City like Auckland. Can't they see from Auckland's experience it doesn't work and just turns into a huge unwieldy monster that chews up ratepayers' money for no results. Then it splits itself into subdivisions like Auckland Transport (AT), Watercare etc who run their own little fiefdoms and answer to no one and embark on their own pet projects. Don't say you weren't warned. Jock MacVicar, Hauraki. We are told that the proposed changes to voter registration will speed up the result of the election. Please remind me how long it took for the 2023 coalition agreement. Gregory Cave, NZ
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Green shoots ahead for party: Swarbrick
After a turbulent beginning to this Parliament, Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick tells ODT political editor Mike Houlahan it is only up from here. "Forged in fire, mate," a chipper Chloe Swarbrick says as she summarises the first half of the parliamentary term from a Green Party perspective. And then some. For a start, she is sitting in the ODT offices speaking as her party's co-leader — a role she did not have at the start of the current Parliament, although many expected she would eventually rise to it. However, Ms Swarbrick replacing the now retired James Shaw was the least troublesome of the many travails which have beset the Greens. The sudden death of Fa'anānā Efeso Collins last February was followed soon after by the prolonged and messy expulsion of former MP Darleen Tana. Then her replacement, Benjamin Doyle, was placed under the blowtorch by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. And last but not least, for much of this Ms Swarbrick was the solo leader of her party; Marama Davidson requiring time off for breast cancer treatment. "That, unfortunately, is part of being in such a snow globe of public pressure, with the spotlights on. It's not unusual to have circumstances in workplaces where things go awry, but you add to that the level of public scrutiny, which is absolutely due," Ms Swarbrick said. "I knew that, sitting around the caucus table, we had a group of people who were dedicated to a cause that was bigger than something that any one of us could create by ourselves, so I always felt like the team was working together and prioritising that bigger picture. "But in terms of the personal reflections on it all, I mean, like, I didn't really intend to be a politician, I protested so hard, I raged against the machine so hard, but I got inside the machine somehow, right? "What I take from that is, yeah, the way that we tend to conceptualise of leadership is, you know, putting somebody at the top of the pecking order and going, 'That person's going to make all the decisions and have all the glory and all the other things', and the responsibility, obviously, is on the flip side of that coin. "But I've always felt really grounded in a team that I know has my back." It is not unusual for the Green Party to feel out of step with its parliamentary colleagues — an accusation the governing parties are happy to widen out to include the entire country. It has felt more stark than usual this term though, as its MPs have been assailed as being luddite opponents of progress for questioning the need for economic growth and the requirement for natural resources to be dug up to fuel it. While many of those attacks have come from National, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's gentle urging that the Greens back the fast-track legislation are nowhere near as stinging as Mr Peters adorning the Greens' recently released alternative budget with a Soviet-era hammer and sickle or his NZ First colleague Shane Jones' exhortations to the Greens to not worry about moths or Freddy the Frog and push ahead with mining. If there is such a thing as a philosophic debate in the New Zealand Parliament, these two parties are having it. It can even be intellectual listening once the sloganeering is stripped away from it. "What they are saying is pretty boring, and it misses the mark in terms of the real debate that New Zealanders expect of the people who occupy positions of power to be having," Ms Swarbrick said. "That's part of the reason that we are currently all across the country touring the Green budget and talking to people directly about the things that matter to them, as opposed to waiting for it to be mediated, whether that be through the headlines that we manage to grab or otherwise. "Honestly, the experience of sitting in our chamber of Parliament, particularly under the tenor of toxicity that this government is ushered in, is so far removed from the reality that you experience and you talk to with New Zealanders up and down this country when you're actually on the ground and outside of those walls." The building blocks at the foundation of what will be the Green policy platform for the 2026 election are contained within that alternative budget. It is a beguiling document, opening with pledges of free community healthcare and dental treatment, full funding a new Dunedin hospital, publicly funded early childhood education, free school lunches, a guaranteed income for all, climate action, healthy oceans, a resurgent Jobs for Nature scheme, and a green jobs industrial strategy. But then comes the method of paying for it all — essentially making corporations, and those individuals at the apex of the existing progressive tax system, pay more through introducing a wealth tax (a long-standing Greens policy), an extra tax band at the top end, and hiking business tax. Despite Ms Swarbrick's immediate assertion that 91% of New Zealanders would pay less income tax under her party's plan, it is these revenue-gathering methods that stand her party accused of promoting communism. "Yes, the top 3%, the wealthiest 3% in this country, will pay the wealth tax," she said. "But in doing so, that unlocks the resources which are currently being bound up in unproductive uses, i.e., the likes of property speculation. It also addresses some of the unfairness in our tax system, which the 2023 IRD High Wealth Individuals Report showcased, where the wealthiest 311 households pay an effective tax rate less than half of the average New Zealander. "We currently have a situation where half a million New Zealanders are using food banks every single month; 191 New Zealanders, the majority of them of working age, are leaving the country every single day. "We do not arrest that issue with half measures." The next election is about a year away and, unlike some previous electoral cycles, the Greens have cause to be optimistic. The Greens' polling has held relatively steady — from a record election result high of 11.6%, its current average rating across all public polls is 10.4% — and its caucus now has a more settled look about it. Its southern rookie MPs, Scott Willis and Francisco Hernandez, have performed well and are helping to give the Greens a wider geographic representation than in recent years. It is also doing well in the House, thanks in no small part to the work of the impressively forensic Lawrence Xu-Nan. With three electorate seats and 15 MPs, Ms Swarbrick is adamant the Greens have great potential to grow that vote still further. "I think you're seeing the rise of meaningful progressive platforms like, for example, Zohran Mamdani in New York, who has unified people on the basis of material needs being met," she said. "That stuff is winning. That is a winning formula. And that is the formula that we are going to consistently keep rolling out. "We are talking to people about what really matters, not just poking holes and critiquing, but putting forward those productive solutions, but also mobilising people. "We do things a little bit differently and we are a little bit different, and we try and reflect what modern Aotearoa New Zealand looks like. "Hopefully that means that more people can see themselves in that so-called House of Representatives by virtue of us being there."
Scoop
15 hours ago
- Scoop
The Value Of Youth MPs Put Under A Question Mark
Every three years young aspiring politicians flock to the Beehive for the Youth Parliament. Their debates are fiery and passionate, but are they ultimately pointless? A former politician says change is needed to the Youth Parliament system if it's to stay relevant. MP-turned political commentator Peter Dunne says the scheme isn't just "a rag-tag collection of young people coming together for a couple of days to play at being MPs", but if the event is going to be taken seriously, more consistency is required around its processes. That's not the case at the moment, in everything from how the teens are selected to the quality of the mentorship they're getting. The tri-annual event usually passes under the media radar, but this year's event was overshadowed by what a handful of Youth MPs said was censorship of their speeches. Dunne says he could understand the intention behind the message from the Ministry of Youth Development, which asked some students to remove parts of their speeches where they lacked political neutrality, but the issue could have been handled better. In the end, none of the students were stopped from making their speeches, even if they didn't make the changes. Youth Parliament has been held every three years for the past three decades and is described by the government as, "a unique opportunity for young New Zealanders to learn first-hand about our democracy, influence government decision-making, and have their voices heard". In many ways it's like the real thing, with MPs selecting teens to represent them for a couple of days in Parliament where they debate, give speeches and discuss fictional legislation. Dunne says often the young adults outshine the older MPs. "The contrast has usually been between the impeccable behaviour of the youth MPs and the somewhat unruly behaviour of their adult counterparts," he says. The first Youth Parliament was held in 1995 and initially was just a couple of days. Now the programme has expanded, running from April to August and Dunne questions how much teens take out of those extra two months and 29 days. "And more importantly, what weight is attached to that? They've got no formal status in the community, so what role can they play?" he asks. Dunne says much of what the young aspiring politicians learn and do is dependent on the MP they are mentored by. "In some cases they won't do very much, in some cases the MP will work actively with them and assign them a particular project," Dunne says. There also aren't any rules around how MPs select their mentee. Some get applicants to write essays, this year David Seymour held an election, and Dunne says a couple just shoulder tap the kids of a mate. "The time is right to have a proper review into its function and purpose, including the role of the Youth MPs, how they're selected and what are reasonable expectations of them. "Because I think that with a much clearer focus the youth parliament can play a much greater role than it has done to date," Dunne says. Oscar Duffy, representing List MP Melissa Lee became interested in politics last year when his nan was in hospital. "She's a Māori lady and she didn't have the best experience ... so that was a pretty key driver in me being interested in what's going on. "Obviously there's so much tension between Māori and the Crown ... and that affects my family really directly," he says. Duffy agrees that the degree of mentorship varies. He spent substantial time working on projects in his community and in Lee's Mount Albert office but says others didn't have the same experience. "[Ministers] have no time right? Ministers are so busy, I roomed with Simeon Brown's Youth MP and he didn't really see Simeon a lot, if at all," he says. Duffy sees youth parliament as an opportunity for those interested in politics to get an insight into the system. He says everyone attending this year had a keen interest in advocacy and change-making, but he admits that at times some see their role as more important than it is. "There's just a lot of politically charged people in one room. "Putting them all in the same room is great and it gets everyone talking to each other and firing off really good initiatives ... but yeah I guess some of them do think they are a bit more important than they are which is a shame because they probably should be more important and have more of a say," he says. But if he could change one thing Duffy would raise the age bracket because he thinks 16 is too young. "Even just move it up one year, 17-19, so there's more first year uni students who have been through high school, who have seen the whole system," he says. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
