Wednesday, March 23, 2016



National's New Zealand

Last week, National was wanking about economic growth. Meanwhile, demand for food parcels is up by 50%:

Unprecedented demand for food parcels will leave a $100,000 hole in Auckland City Mission's funding.

The mission handed out 10,394 parcels in its financial year to the end of June 2015, but the organisation has already exceeded that in the first eight months of its current financial year.

"Working on current trends it would mean that our food parcels for the year end would be 50 percent higher than they were last year," the mission's acting chief executive Jacki Richardson said.


They're explicitly blaming National's benefit "reforms" (which throw people off benefits after a year unless they go through the humiliating and intrusive process of reapplying) and their cuts to social housing for the increase.

Meanwhile, if National's "growth" results in more people living in poverty, we have to ask why bother? And if the price of prosperity for bankers is more poverty for those at the bottom, then its not worth paying.