Ditching the fees may seem like an easy way to reduce carbon emissions and help transport poverty. But, as environmental sociologist Kirsty Wild explains, free PT is far from a silver bullet. When it comes to carbon fairness, transport is a bit of a minefield. Should low-income communities get cycleways because they deserve the investment? … Read more
The annual Salvation Army state of the nation report shows that for many people already doing it tough, life got much harder in 2020. Alex Braae reports. Thousands of new people approached the Salvation Army for assistance over 2020, and Ronji Tanielu is worried about them becoming regulars. Tanielu is a lawyer, and a principal … Read more
Born into one of New Zealand rugby’s royal families, Brooke Stanley Pao is a daughter of privilege. Now she’s the face of the fight against poverty in Auckland. Every Tuesday and Thursday just before 10am, a small queue forms on an Onehunga street corner, waiting for the glass doors to slide open on hope. These … Read more
If there’s one lesson to take from our widely praised Covid-19 response, it’s that real societal change is possible – as long as the political will is there, writes Matt Bartlett. One of the most remarkable and under-reported aspects of New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 is how the government eliminated homelessness during the lockdown period. … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM rules out increasing core benefit levels before Christmas, Napier hit with both water restrictions and flooding emergency, and NZ exports to UK under threat over rodeo concerns. The PM has ruled out increasing core benefits before Christmas, disappointing anti-poverty campaigners. Speaking at her post-cabinet press conference (skip … Read more
Jacinda Ardern rules supreme over the New Zealand political landscape, possessed of the first outright majority of the MMP era and immense personal popularity. But what should be her most urgent political priorities this term? In compiling the list below, I have left out the task of conquering covid-19 – almost too obvious to mention, … Read more
Victory Park is the first novel from Mākaro Press since August 2019, when they put out a little book called Auē. I remember what it felt like to finish Becky Manawatu’s Auē, which went on to win last year’s Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. Electric. Elating. An in-my-bones knowing that this story mattered. Victory … Read more
Brooke Stanley Pao, the incoming co-ordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty, has some choice words for the current government on exactly what ‘kindness’ without action achieves for people living in poverty. Back in 2017, before Jacinda Ardern was sworn in as prime minister, she said she wanted the new government to be “empathetic and kind”. … Read more
The Rawiri Community House, nestled between the Auckland suburbs of Manukau and Manurewa, helps hundreds of families with food and other essential services each week. It’s kept going thanks to an unlikely friendship forged in the struggle to help those doing it toughest. My interview at the Rawiri Community House in Rata Vine, with Liz … Read more
From damp housing to unsafe work, doctors see every day the conditions worsening the health of thousands of New Zealanders. Dr George Laking of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians explains the four things we can do make a change for the better. Physicians are specialist doctors who look after people with medical illnesses. We … Read more
Campaign groups are trying to get issues around the welfare system, housing and poverty onto the election agenda. Alex Braae was in Wellington to see a deeply frustrating debate play out. Many election forums give politicians plenty of room to speak about whatever they want. But at a forum on inequality, the onus was reversed, … Read more
Rebuilding and healing broken communities can be a slow and frustrating process. But as Max Rashbrooke writes, it starts with listening to the powerful stories of those with lived experience. Just before lockdown, in Porirua’s Te Rauparaha Arena, a reversal of fortunes took place. At the People’s Voices conference, organised by Wesley Community Action, the … Read more
An increased focus on ‘talking about it’ will only help if we’re honest with ourselves and each other about what is driving self-inflicted deaths in this country, writes Carla na Nagara. There has always been debate about whether talking about suicide is responsible or constructive. And since the Covid-19 alert level response started in March, … Read more
Budget 2020: From supermarket workers to machine operators to cleaners, the people at the bottom of the socioeconomic pile deserve to be be part of the post-pandemic conversation – and to be allowed to speak for themselves, writes Stacey Shortall. While there is an audible sigh of relief in New Zealand that we are now … Read more
Budget 2020: With the unemployment rate growing and predicted to rise further, many more people face financial hardship and poverty. Alan Johnson explores how the government could address this in Thursday’s budget. In previous budgets the finance minister Grant Robinson proved himself a fiscal conservative, suggesting that it wasn’t time to fully address our various … Read more
Politicians can’t make us feel less lonely, but they can adopt policies that create conditions for meaningful social interaction to flourish. This article tackles loneliness at the policy level, which is important, but won’t be much immediate help to individuals feeling lonely and isolated right now. If you’re in that situation, Loneliness NZ has some … Read more
The current crisis has rendered visible challenges that have been simmering in the background long before the country went into lockdown, writes Chris Farrelly of the Auckland City Mission. Covid-19 presents new and unfamiliar territory for many of us in our day-to-day realities. Be it managing childcare in the home office, or adjusting to time … Read more
Lockdown requires a sacrifice of some form or another from everyone, but the sacrifices never fall proportionately. Read more from the lockdown letters here. Four years ago, and yes, this is a shameless plug, and yes, I’m about to turn it into a loud self-vindication, I wrote: “To participate in politics is, for many young people, … Read more
Reverend Scottie Reeve on the meaning of Easter during the Covid-19 pandemic, and why we need to embark on a journey of collective repentance. On Wednesday while I was going for a walk, I came across a friend on the Wellington waterfront. We’ll call him David. David had no idea what was happening at the … Read more
We’re being told to stay home and limit social interaction, but for hundreds of New Zealanders sleeping rough that’s not possible. So what care is in place for them? On March 21, prime minister Jacinda Ardern issued a directive to New Zealanders: stay home. As of midnight last night, this rule has been enforced. Police … Read more
For beneficiaries and thousands of soon-to-be unemployed, some tough situations are looming in trying to navigate Work and Income’s bureaucracy. Alex Braae reports. With three kids at home showing symptoms of illness, and having recently been in contact with someone from overseas, Jane* knew staying home was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, she also … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New child poverty statistics show little change yet, Greenpeace call for fishing policy review over donations, and a focus on Covid-19 effects on forestry. New figures were released yesterday on one of the most important issues facing the country – how many children grow up in … Read more
This content was created in paid partnership with the Child Poverty Action Group. Learn more about our partnerships here.
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National closes year with policy blitz, fund announced for small businesses affected by tourism disasters, and a record worker exploitation fine handed down. Perhaps it’s meant to be a counterpoint to the government’s year of delivery. The National party promised eight policy discussion documents this year, and … Read more
The very idea that a meal kit is a suitable alternative to a food grant undermines the importance of autonomy and self-determination as human rights, writes Rebekah Graham. Over the past few months, Work and Income has been trialling providing Auckland-based beneficiaries who have requested a food grant with a Bargain Box food kit instead. … Read more
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a lot of her life at … Read more
Pay-as-you-feel dining concept Everybody Eats, which uses food that would otherwise go to waste, has found a permanent home in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga. Founder Nick Loosley explains how it’s about so much more than taking on food waste. “We’re increasingly disconnected,” says Nick Loosley. “We don’t really gather as a community any more. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Clayton Mitchell denies accusations around a night out, food insecurity on the rise, and UK PM Boris Johnson secures deal with dubious prospects. NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell has got himself in a spot of late night bother in a Tauranga pub. Newshub’s Tova O’Brien reports he was … Read more
Laura O’Connell Rapira looks at what benefit cuts and successive generations of an unregulated housing market has done to welfare and housing for those in the margins. For the first seven or so years of my life, I was raised mostly by my mum on the domestic purposes benefit (my dad is a big part … Read more