6. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
What advice did he receive from the most recent food bank he visited about the current cost of living?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
I receive advice about the current cost of living from a range of sources, but primarily from Statistics New Zealand, whose food price index last week showed that over the last 6 months, food prices on average have gone up only 0.9 percent. In terms of advice about those presenting at food banks, I receive information from the Minister of Social Development, who visits food banks regularly, and even worked in one very recently. She advises that people use food banks for a range of reasons, with a major reason being a loss of employment.
Have any organisers of food banks told him that the reason for the 30 percent increase in people in work receiving food parcels is that they are making poor life choices; or is it that the cost of living has risen faster than their wages?
I cannot recall a direct conversation with a food bank organiser and therefore I cannot characterise either. I have met people who run social services and who run food banks, but I am not sure I would say they are absolutely food bank organisers.
Has he now watched the Campbell Live story that I raised in a question to him last week; or has he read the comments made about the rising cost of living and how it is affecting people like Anya, who says they are getting more and more worried about how they can manage with the rising cost of living—she works part-time and her husband works full-time for $48,000 a year; her wages cover childcare with about $30 a week to spare, and she says it would take only a car repair bill or a dentist bill to cause real problems; and why has the tax switch not cushioned her family from the harsh financial pressures they face?
No, I have not seen the TV programme. I go back to the point I made earlier: Statistics New Zealand advises that the food price index has gone up 0.9 percent for the last 6 months. If one were to contrast that with Labour’s last 6 months in office, one would see that it went up between 6 and 7 percent—I think they call that about eight or nine times more. Interestingly enough—and this is quite a fascinating fact for the House—over the last 6 months the price of vegetables has actually gone down 15 percent. One could argue there is no need to take GST off vegetables; it has already happened.
Mr SPEAKERI apologise. The House will come to order. No members want an early shower. The House will come to order.