King Annette: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
King Annette: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17491] 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 When we look at the financial review for 2009-10 of the Ministry of Social Development we need to see it in the context of comments made by the Minister of Finance in December 2008. At that time having just come into Government Bill English said: “I want to stress that New Zealand starts from a reasonable position in dealing with the uncertainty of our economic outlook. In New Zealand we have room to respond. This is the rainy day the Government is saving up for.” 
The reason why I raise that is that in this House over the last financial year we have consistently heard the Minister of Finance refer to the dreadful position that the Government inherited when it came to office. It does not quite add up. I raise this issue because it is germane to what is happening in social development. If this Government wanted to make a priority in social development particularly for children it had every ability to do so because the finances of this country were in a reasonable position to face the global recession that this country and other countries faced. Other countries have got through it; we now face a double-dip recession. We in Labour say to the Government that it is a recession of its own making. What it means is that those who are the most vulnerable and who need the most help in New Zealand are the ones who face the biggest problems and the biggest cuts. Under this Minister in the chair the Minister for Social Development and Employment very little has been done to help children in New Zealand. 
What is depressing and distressing for me is that I have constantly asked the Minister for Social Development and Employment what she has done for the children who face abuse and lack of care in this country. Her only answer has been the same: “Every day I work so hard for them.” But every day more children are abused in New Zealand. Every day more children are neglected in New Zealand. Every day we hear of things that are happening in this country to our children that no notice has been taken of except in pretty speeches and crafty answers to questions asked in Parliament. 
I say to the Minister that if she does not want to believe Opposition members when they talk about children maybe she would like to listen to those who provided a report for this financial year—the Salvation Army for example which released a report called  
Stalled 
. What does the Salvation Army talk about in that report? It says that there has been very little meaningful social progress in New Zealand and that there are now greater problems of unaffordable housing alcohol-fuelled family violence child poverty and youth disaffection. The report also found that over the last 12 months to September 2010 average weekly earnings grew by just 0.5 percent when adjusted for inflation or in real terms. The low-income household consumer price index developed by the Salvation Army has found that the cost of living has gone up by 4 percent. So the lowest-paid people in New Zealand including beneficiaries and older people have seen their cost of living go up although their income has not risen. Those people are facing considerable difficulties. 
The report went on to point out that under this Minister there has been an increase of 40000 more young people who are out of work. We now have about 60000 young people under the age of 25 who are not in work who are not in training and who at this stage feel they have no hope. That is what the Salvation Army pointed out. 
If the Minister still does not want to believe what I am saying then perhaps she will believe what the Salvation Army is saying on child poverty. You see the Salvation Army is at the pointy edge of social service delivery. It is there every day out in the community providing services. It is all very well for the Government to praise the Salvation Army when it is on the streets and helping people when there is an earthquake but I ask why the Government does not listen to the Salvation Army when it is telling this Government that child poverty rates in New Zealand have increased over the last 18 months particularly in single-parent families.