Turei Metiria: Budget Debate 
Turei Metiria: Budget Debate 
[Volume:664;Page:11716] 
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
: 
 A few weeks ago I spoke on the second reading of the Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill which brought into force this Budget’s aggressive tax reform policies the policies of a National Government that does not care. It does not care for Aotearoa it does not care for its people and it certainly does not care for our children. 
That tax bill which was passed with the help of the Maori Party and the ACT Party gave tax cuts to the very wealthy. It also provided tax reform that would charge our most vulnerable families much much more for the very basics that they need to live such as food and clothing—the basics. The Green Party has a vision for a much smarter economy than this National Government could ever imagine. It has a vision for a much fairer society than this National - ACT - Maori Party coalition Government was prepared to provide. It has a vision for a smart economy that delivers real prosperity for this country; a vision for a fairer community where every New Zealand child every child in this country lives in a safe society where he or she has access to warm dry housing safe and affordable food quality public education and quality publicly provided health care. 
This John Key - led Government chooses instead a society of haves and have-nots. John Key’s Government chooses a society where the poorest New Zealand children go without shoes food and shelter. That is the choice that was made in this Budget. The negative impacts of this Budget on the plight of children in this country cannot be underestimated but they have been underestimated by National and John Key because National and John Key are divorced from the reality of the ordinary lives of New Zealanders. When the Green Party launched Mind the Gap—our package of solutions to deal with the widening gap between rich and poor—we focused on the fact that Aotearoa is one of the worst countries in the developed world for income disparity. We know that inequality hurts every child and every family. The National Party backbenchers are shouting behind me because they know they are doing nothing for children in this country and it is uncomfortable for them to hear this. We know that New Zealand is one of the most unequal countries— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It might be the speaker systems having a little bit of a problem again but despite the member not being one of the quieter members in the House I am having a bit of trouble hearing her. I cannot tell whether it is the speakers the noise from members opposite or a combination of both. Could you get them to look into it please. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Eric Roy) 
: I will now monitor it and the member may continue. I am afraid I was engrossed in a matter of order that I was researching and I was not paying the attention I should have been. 
METIRIA TUREI 
: We know that New Zealand is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world. We are 23rd out of 30 in the recent OECD report on inequality. We are the sixth most unequal country among highly developed countries; that came out of the  
United Nations Human Development Report 
 last year. At the Welfare Working Group debacle earlier this week the head of social policy for the OECD Dr Monika Queisser said that New Zealand’s child poverty was one of the worst in the OECD. She said that 15 percent of children in this country live in families who survive on less than half the median income. Let us make that clear: around 120000 children live in families whose weekly income is less than $270 a week and that is OK with this National Government. This National Government does not mind. When Bill English was questioned on inequality what did he say? He said his Budget does not really make any difference to that. It does not make any difference at all because John Key Bill English and the National - ACT - Maori Party coalition Government do not care that 120000 New Zealand children are living in families whose income is less than $270 a week. 
Well the Green Party does care because income inequality like this has devastating effects on children. At the launch of Mind the Gap which is our proposal to deal with this issue we heard about a mother who was so malnourished that she could not produce breast milk for her child. That mother lives here in this country. We heard about the 20000 children who go to school—[ 
Interruption 
] National members are giggling over there; I see the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs and Sandra Goudie having a giggle about the fact that 20000 New Zealand children go to school each day without sufficient food shoes and raincoats. Those are New Zealand children living today in the 21st century in this country. 
This Budget increased the gap by shifting money from our poorest and most vulnerable children to the richest families and corporations. Just after the Budget was released two more reports came out that highlighted the plight of children and child poverty in this country.  
The Best Start in Life 
 report from the Public Health Advisory Committee ranked our country 29th out of 30 for child health and safety—that is how bad we are. We are almost the worst in the OECD for child health and safety. Increasing financial pressures on families widening socio-economic disparities and low Government investment in early childhood education which this National-led Government is doing once again are reasons for our children’s appalling health status in this country and when compared globally. Every one of those factors has been made worse by this Budget. We will have a GST increase that puts pressure on low-income families tax cuts that widen the gap and funding cuts to early childhood education. 
The  
Children’s Housing Futures 
 report which also came out a few days after the Budget showed how important housing is for the health and well-being of children. It found that the quality of children’s housing in New Zealand is worse than the OECD average and that many New Zealand children are living in poor-quality unaffordable insecure and crowded housing. Children are more likely than any other age group in this country to live in crowded housing. There are 800000 children living in this country; nearly half of them are living in housing that is cold damp and expensive to heat—that is 375000 New Zealand children are living in cold damp and expensive-to-heat homes. One hundred and twenty thousand children live in families who earn less than $270 a week but that is OK with this National - ACT - Maori Party Government. So what did the Budget do? Well it slashed the housing budget. It slashed the State housing budget by $100 million leaving 10000 people—and their children—languishing on the State house waiting list. John Key’s Government chose to give big tax cuts to corporations while nearly half of New Zealand’s children live in cold poor-quality housing. 
Let us just have a think about who some of these people are who are making decisions. You know Paula Bennett who was a beneficiary— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Paula’s allowed a benefit but no one else. 
METIRIA TUREI 
: Well that is right. She and her child had the opportunity of a State welfare system that provided for them and for Paula’s education. John Key as a child had access to a State house where he and his family could be housed. But where is the provision of those things for New Zealand’s children today? Where is the support for the solo parents who have to take care of their children in poor cold and damp housing? Those children will not have access to State housing because this Government has cut the State housing budget. Why are this Government and the responsible decision-makers like John Key and like Paula Bennett stripping away from today’s New Zealand children the same entitlements and rights that they had when they needed State support? Those decision-makers have lifted the ladder behind them and they are taking from New Zealand’s children the same entitlements they had when they needed State support. That is grossly unfair; it is grossly unfair. Today’s children deserve the same support that John Key had as a child and that Paula Bennett and her family had when she needed State support. But that will not be provided to New Zealand’s children today under this Government. 
But it is not just about the solutions that we have for reducing inequality because the fact is that huge savings can be made. In our estimation by providing 6000 more State houses progressive pricing on electricity and extending the in-work tax credit to more low-income families we could save about $2 billion a year in costs to the health system and from loss of work because of respiratory illnesses from cold and damp housing. If we increased the minimum wage so that families can be supported in their work we could save a billion dollars in social support that the Government is currently paying as a subsidy to big business like the aged-care sector like the fast-food sector so that they do not have to pay a decent wage to their workers. Investing in our families now in our children and their incomes now in their housing now and in their education now will save us money in the future. But more than that—much more than that—this is about choice.