Logie Jan: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: General Debate[Sitting date: 30 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10025. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green): Before the 1980s our country’s great achievement which we were known all around the world for was having a pretty level playing field at least for Pākehā men. Since then we have seen greater recognition for women and Māori amongst others. Of course it was not perfect back then but successive Governments of both colours recognised the importance of ensuring families had enough to sustain themselves and a warm dry home to live in. The goal was for everyone to have enough to be able to participate in society because that was fair and right and because we wanted to ensure that we could get the best out of everyone for our society. We were known for this all around the world and we were just a little smug about it.But Government policies since the 1980s have created huge income and wealth imbalances that have harmed us all. Governments through the 1980s and 1990s removed the ability for working families to negotiate decent pay and hours they cut the family benefit and made it harder to buy a house and of course famously Ruth Richardson set benefits levels below the poverty line. Then they said that struggling people were the problem.This week the Government is of course proudly promoting the fact that it is giving some beneficiaries a few extra dollars albeit with lots of strings attached but it is not mentioning the fact that the ministry advice told it that this is not enough to get any of those families out of poverty. So what the Government is really announcing to the country is its decision to continue to keep these families in poverty. These are families where parents are unable to work while they rebuild themselves after leaving violent relationships or provide for the physical and emotional needs of their children who may have disabilities or manage their own fragile mental health while doing their best to care for their children. The Government has decided that these families do not deserve enough money to do those important jobs and pay all their bills and have opportunities in life.Of course the Government has also failed to acknowledge the fact that it is taking this money from other struggling families. The Government is helping to fund this small conditional increase which will not bring anyone out of poverty by cutting the value of Working for Families and the accommodation supplement. These supports were introduced to try to keep people off the street and out of poverty. Eroding the value of these benefits means more families will now struggle to pay their bills enjoy life and contribute to our communities. It does not make sense to erode these supports when rents are going up out of kilter with wages. Families are doing their best in increasingly tough circumstances and the Government needs to stop making it harder.The Green Party believes that we are in this society together and our benefit will be better off if we fix the wealth and income imbalances. Although National Party members may groan at that idea if we were in power we would improve the ability of people to negotiate decent pay and hours crack down on corporate tax avoidance introduce a capital gains tax and put a price on carbon so that we could ensure all of our families have enough to sustain themselves while we protect our environment. We can rebalance our policies to ensure the dignity of every New Zealander. These are fundamental goals that are achievable.