4. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does he stand by his statement “this Government is not prepared to turn its back on our most vulnerable citizens when they most need our help”?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
Yes, which is why in difficult economic times we have maintained and increased benefits, superannuation, and income support for families, and why we have continued to increase funding for important public services like health and education.
What is he prepared to do to assist New Zealanders who are most in need, in light of reports over the weekend that a boy was found eating cockroaches because he was starving and that the budgeting services are receiving reports of pensioners eating cat food as the cost of living keeps going up at a rapid rate?
I have seen another report in relation to the boy involved, and I understand that the case could be an issue of neglect, not one of family income support. The Government obviously supports not only a benefit-based system for those who find themselves in need but also significant hardship grants. As we have seen in the case of Christchurch we have put a quarter of a billion dollars into funding support for Christchurch people in the first 14 weeks since the earthquake.
Is he aware that many low-income families cannot afford even a basic nutritious diet for their children, especially if there are teenagers in the household who need far more food, according to the latest vulnerability report from the Council of Christian Social Services; if so, what will he do to help those families who are struggling 5 months after the Government’s tax cuts took effect, which were supposed to make most people better off?
The price of food moves around quite a lot. It is highly volatile. So some things go up in price and some things go down in price. The Government has been putting more money into budgeting services to try to give people help and support. We also fund a significant number of emergency grants, as the member will be aware, on top of the basic benefit system.
If that answer from the Prime Minister is correct, can he then explain why the Salvation Army in Whangarei has seen an increase of 90 percent in food parcels since the New Year and is now having to ration them to one per family?
I have not seen the report, and I have not seen the details from Whangarei. But I will say that my experience in being involved in organisations that give food parcels shows that a lot of them do have a system where they do not allow people to have too many in a certain time—they do not want to build dependency.
What will he do to help the increasing number of people in need of help, as shown by the 37 percent increase in food bank clients at the Catholic Family Support Services of Hamilton, the Glen Eden food bank giving out 73 food parcels in 3 hours, and the demand for Salvation Army food parcels rising by 16 percent last year, indicating that there are a large number of vulnerable New Zealanders who are not reducing in terms of their need for help under this Government?
The Government can stand on a very proud record of keeping benefit entitlements and making sure that payments are made to all vulnerable New Zealanders, despite running a very, very large deficit as a result of very poor economic conditions. I think that if ever a Government could be excused for cutting costs, it would be this Government, because there is not a lot of money around.
Is he prepared to accompany me on one of my visits to a food bank, so he can listen to those people who work on the front line and determine whether people are making poor lifestyle choices, as he has claimed?