“This budget was billed as the budget to solve child poverty but it does nothing for our most vulnerable” says MANA Leader and MP for Te Tai Tokerau Hone Harawira.  “And if was John Key or Bill English I would hang my head in shame because under this budget 270,000 kids will still be in poverty today, tomorrow and next year”.

“Just in case I’m wrong with my take on the budget, I checked the 78 recommendations made by the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty against the budget.  And guess what?  The only semblance of a measly three recommendations exist in English’s prescription for a better future.  Even then I’m struggling to give him credit for that;  the Heat Smart Programme was supposed to go into every NZ home, not the 46,000 the Government are happy to pay for, and the peanuts being paid for more budgeting services won’t result in less people making a visit to Instant Finance”.

“But what gobsmacked me the most was the absence of any reference to any food in schools programme.  Like most people I was under the impression that the Government was going to roll out a scheme that was just as good, if not better, than the private members bill I have going to the house in July to provide every decile one and two school kid in the country free breakfasts and lunches.  So another day passes with more of our future leaders go to school hungry and won’t learn as well as a result of this Government’s inaction.  I can only but assume that the Government are all going to vote for the bill because they have no idea what to do when it comes to feeding our most vulnerable kids”.

“Ask any expert on the state housing shortage in the country and they will agree that the Government’s stocks are short by about 30,000, with 20,000 being needed for our biggest city.  So when you consider that the Government under their accord with the Auckland City Council are going to build an additional 500 houses, they are still well short of the mark.  Now they are going to make the situation worse by booting out 3000 families out in the cold.  This Government’s plan for state housing is deplorable and it won’t take long before anybody walking through the streets of Auckland will think they are walking the slums of New Delhi with so much homelessness”.

“As for jobs, there is a keen desire on the part of Government to put more beneficiaries into work, but no plan to create jobs when they are kicked off the dole.  Maori youth unemployment is sky high, let alone the Maori unemployment rate being double the rate of non-Maori.  For the 40,000 Maori looking for a job they are being asked to fight for one of the 3000 places available for Maori and Pacific Island trade training scheme positions.  That still leaves 37,000 without better employment opportunities and of those 3000 Maori or Pacific Islanders lucky enough to secure a spot in trade training, there is still no guarantee of work at the end of their training”.

“When it comes to Maori education, this Government gets a big F for fail.  And why on earth the Maori Party are prepared to back ACT leader John Banks’, who is currently facing criminal charges, attempt to privatise the education sector, is beyond me and most Maori who believe in Kura Kaupapa.   They are placing a private model of Maori education, called Kura a Iwi, in direct competition with Kura Kaupapa.  The only difference is that it is not a level playing field; Kura a Iwi are going to receive more money while Kura Kaupapa are starved of the money they so desperately need to continue growing the minds of our tamariki and rangatahi.  Under charter schools, Kura a Iwi are not faced with the same accountability measures as Kura Kaupapa under the Official Information Act or the Ombudsman and Kura a Iwi are not required to employ registered teachers”.

“No matter how you look at this budget, it is an epic fail.  It does nothing to help the 270,000 kids who live in poverty, it does nothing for the 30,000 families who need a home, it does nothing for the 40,000 Maori looking for a job, and it does nothing for Maori education”.

“So much for the budget that was supposed put a serious dent in poverty.  It’s a case of this Government doing their best to increase poverty, rather than reducing poverty”.

The following is a speech delivered by Hone Harawira in the House of Representatives in response to the Government’s budget.

Kia ora Mr Speaker, tēna tatou katoa e te whare,

FEEDING THE KIDS

Mr Speaker in 2011 I made FEED THE KIDS MANA’s first ever major campaign, but whenever I raised it around the house I noticed that while we all know child poverty exists, politicians were retreating behind glib phrases, or saying nasty things about bad parenting, or blaming the global financial crisis, or going quiet to fit with the party line and refusing to deal honestly and openly with what has become a major disgrace in 21st century Aotearoa.

And unfortunately, whenever they’re in Government, both major parties struggle to admit that child poverty is a real problem but happily attack those in power about it, as soon as they go into opposition …

So wouldn’t it be nice if for once … just this once … if both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition called a joint press conference (and yes, Russell Norman and Metiria Turei and Winston Peters and Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples and even Peter Dunne can be there too if they wish) to say …

On behalf of the Parliament of New Zealand, we want to acknowledge a major problem in our society called child poverty. It’s something we’ve been shuffling to the side lines for far too long, but today we freely admit that child poverty exists here in Aotearoa … we’re not proud of it – in fact we’re bloody ashamed to admit it – but we are going to do something about it”.

And as the leaders of the two major parties in Parliament we want everyone to know that as we move to take up our place as a leading nation in the world, we begin that journey by recognising the reality of child poverty and taking steps to eliminate it as a bipartisan priority of the highest order.

Now wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be something worth cheering for? Wouldn’t that be something to be proud of? And just imagine what a difference that would make to those families living on the edge?

I mean … what value the trade deal with the USA, or the military parade in China, if when we get home we’ve still got 270,000 kids living below the poverty line?

I’d love it if we had a FEED THE KIDS programme at every school in the country so no child missed out with co-ordinators helping organise local businesses to work with their schools, to help families come in to cook, to get people in to teach kids how to make a garden, grow kai, prepare kai, cook kai, and even how to clean up afterwards.

And to those who say that feeding the kids is a parent’s responsibility, I agree with you … but let’s also agree that providing the environment where stable families can function well in our society is a government’s responsibility.

And the fact is that in 2013, we have whole communities locked into long-term intergenerational unemployment, facing crippling welfare cuts, having to deal with rising electricity prices, medical charges, school fees, food bills, house rentals and fuel costs, and worrying themselves sick lest one of their kids gets ill, or the car breaks down, or there’s a cold snap, or they miss a WINZ appointment …

And on top of that we also have the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty telling us that poverty is costing the country $6b-$8b a year and that we have 270,000 children living in poverty and some 100,000 kids going to school hungry every day.

Now these are not problems caused by bad parenting; these are problems caused by decades of bad economic choices and flawed decision-making at government level.

Remember – it wasn’t the poor who caused the global financial crisis, or caused the banks to go belly up, or bailed out the banks and failed finance companies with taxpayer money

No. Those were all macro-decisions, big picture choices made not by bad parents but by bad governments … and that’s why governments must honour their responsibility to provide for our most vulnerable citizens, the kids, until families are able to once again take care of themselves and their children.

I would have been happy to support any efforts to eliminate child poverty, however small, because feeding even one child is a good idea and that’s why

… given all the positive comments from the Prime Minister over the past few days and the Maori Party bragging about how hard they’re “fighting” for the poor, I am bitterly disappointed to see that this budget has set aside not one cent to deal with child poverty.

If I could, I would organise FEED THE KIDS gigs like we did in Otara last month, right across the north, from Moerewa to Mitimiti, Te Hapua to Te Atatu, and from Whangarei to Whangaparaoa, and then I’d take it on the road right across the country just to see happy kids, because nothing beats seeing 2,000 kids happy to get a feed, see some celebrities, jump around, sing and play, and then go back to school with a lunch.

I’m glad we have more time to take this kaupapa on the road and to take another shot at convincing politicians that the FEED THE KIDS bill is worth supporting, even if it’s just to Select Committee.

EDUCATION

And while I’m talking about kids at school let me talk about what’s happening in the field of education, and specifically Maori education, because yesterday I blasted the Maori Party for voting for ACT’s Charter Schools when charter schools will have no accountability to whanau, to the reo, or to te aho matua, no obligation to put registered teachers in front of our kids, no transparency under the Official Information Act or the Ombudsman Act … and they’re going to get heaps more money than Kura Kaupapa ever got!

And yes of course I can hear Maori calling for different options to mainstream schools but why do you suppose they’re doing that? Because the racist education system we’ve got right now sucks that’s why! And because, for the last five years, the Maori Party have done bugger all to change it – that’s why!

The Maori Party doesn’t have any options and because they don’t have the power either to get money for Kura Kaupapa Maori or to keep Kotahitanga going or to get Manaaki Tauira reinstated, they’re left pasting a Maori name on an ACT policy and trying to sell it to Maori!

And I mean really? No accountability to whanau, no commitment to Te Reo, no responsibility to Te Aho Matua, they don’t have to accept any Maori kids, there is no appeal if they throw Maori kids out, and there is no obligation to put registered teachers in front of our kids after telling all our nannies they can’t teach in Kura Kaupapa Maori until they get a degree, and you call that a good idea?

And instead of attacking me, why doesn’t the Maori Party, with their millions of dollars in departmental money and hundreds of staff, actually come up with some basic bottom lines, like what MANA does –

MANA wants a formal commitment from the government on:

• A date to implement the Tribunal’s recommendations on Kohanga
• Equal funding for Kura Kaupapa Maori
• Elimination of racist rules applied only to Kura Kaupapa Maori
• Compulsory Maori language in schools
• Specific increases in achievement for Maori students at school
• Specific reductions in suspension & expulsion of Maori students from school
• Reinstatement and expansion of the Kotahitanga programme to help teachers understand how to get the best out of Maori students
• Reinstatement of the Manaaki Tauira funding to help ALL Maori students get into university

MANA will work with anyone to help grow Maori medium education and develop viable policies for mainstream education, but know this – anyone wanting to call themselves a Maori Party and talk so much about Kaupapa Maori, should be ready to be congratulated on their ability and challenged on their inability, to deliver on Kura Kaupapa Maori.

The Maori Party got nothing in last year’s budget for Kura Kaupapa Maori, and to nobody’s great surprise, they got nothing in this year’s budget either.

HOUSING

And in terms of housing, let’s be clear – Aotearoa has a housing crisis, fuelled by property speculators paying over the top to capture the market and set high rental prices and supported by this Government’s refusal to impose a meaningful capital gains tax which would force the speculators to offload properties, put houses back on the market, lower house prices, enable first home buyers to buy in the “affordable” housing market that the government is talking about, and enable the Government to build proper homes for those on low incomes because that is where the real need is – as a commitment to ensuring that every family in Aotearoa has a warm and comfortable home to live in and then developing a home purchase programme based on the same universal family benefit that gave every Kiwi an opportunity to own their own homes and made Aotearoa such a great place to live, because the need exists at the bottom end and that’s where change has to take place.

And that change is not to kick people out of state homes to sell the land to property developers; nor is it to lie to families about how their houses need to be taken off the market because they’re not up to spec and then shipping them to Kaitaia with some money so somebody else can bring them up to spec; and not by tacking sheds onto the side of a house, or by building “infill” ghettos, or lowering the threshold so they can kick out poor tenants either.

No, what is required is a simpler more committed strategy:

• Impose capital gains tax on those with two or more properties to bring more houses onto the market at a price which will enable first home buyers to buy;
• Build 10,000 state houses a year for the next 10 years for families on low incomes, with a policy which encourages tenants to plan for home purchases, and enables them to do so through a universal family benefit.

CONCLUSION

Apart from a commitment to more money for fight rheumatic fever, this budget has nothing but crumbs to deal with the massive problems facing Maori, Pasifika and Pakeha people struggling to make ends meet or to deal with the ever-growing plight of our hungry children.

As far as this budget is concerned

All we wanted was to FEED THE KIDS

We didn’t even get CRUMBS FOR KIDS

ENDS

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380

Mr Speaker – yesterday the house debated ACT’s charter schools bill that the Maori Party voted for. They didn’t speak to it – heck no, they were too embarrassed to do that; hell, they weren’t even in the house for it; and they must have cringed when their National and ACT Party buddies sang their praises over it; but still … they voted for it.

So what’s all the fuss about? It’s because the Maori Party is backing Charter Schools over Kura Kaupapa Māori. That’s what the fuss is all about.

And they know what they’re doing too, because Pete Sharples, Associate Minister of Education with responsibility for Maori Medium Education, and co-leader of the Maori Party, is supposed to be the big daddy of Kura Kaupapa Maori.

The Maori Party knows that governments have starved Kura of funding, and imposed rules on them that no other school has to adhere to, and yet Kura Kaupapa Maori remain one of the most successful educational initiatives for Maori by Māori, of the last 100 years.

But last night the Maori Party voted with ACT to spend massive amounts of money on Charter Schools, while Kura Kaupapa got bugger all. That’s what the fuss is all about.

Massey University Professor of Education, John O’Neill, said that early indications are that Charter Schools will get more than twice the level of funding as mainstream schools and Kura Kaupapa Maori.

It’s one thing to watch the rich white boys give their mates all the lollies while the poor little Maori kids get by on scraps … it’s bloody embarrassing though having to watch their Maori mates cheer them on, and the Maori Party should be ashamed for turning their backs on Kura Kaupapa Maori. That’s what the fuss is all about.

Maori fought long and hard to establish Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Maori because we know that making a commitment to Te Reo, to Whanau, and to Kaupapa Maori, is critical to providing for successful outcomes for Maori students, and Kura have proven that to be the case time and time again.

But will the Charter Schools that the Maori Party support make those same commitments? HELL NO!!!

Charter Schools will have no accountability to whanau, no commitment to Te Reo, no responsibility to Te Aho Matua, no obligation to put registered teachers in front of our kids, no transparency under the Official Information Act … and they’re going to get heaps more money than Kura Kaupapa ever got – and the Maori Party supports that? That’s what the fuss is all about.

And Charter Schools won’t have to worry about the Auditor-General’s Office either!

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu’s submission on the bill says, “overseas experience shows that charter schools are highly susceptible to fraud, waste and abuse” and in her submission, Dr Bronwyn Hayward, political scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury referred to the problems of crony capitalism, tax evasion, fraud, and corruption that have plagued charter schools elsewhere, and described them as a “naive and reckless governance model” and the Maori Party is voting for them. That’s what the fuss is all about.

Mainstream schools aren’t exactly pathways to high achievement for Maori students, and clearly there is much to be done to change that, but that’s what the Associate Minister of Education is supposed to be doing – identifying and promoting better models – not backing expensive, high-risk, low accountability charter school ventures that 20 years of research show achieve nothing that can’t be done without them. That’s what the fuss is all about.

The Maori Party talks about how important it is to be at the top table – well, tomorrow we find out whether that’s true or whether it is just a big fat lie to keep them on their big fat salaries and in their big fat limos while delivering a big fat zero on Maori Education.

If tomorrow, the Maori Party can give Kura Kaupapa all that they’re giving to Charter Schools, if they get an extension on the Kotahitanga program in mainstream schools that they brag about so much, and if they get Manaaki Tauira reinstated to help all Maori students get a tertiary education, then they deserve a pat on the back.

If, on the other hand, they don’t achieve these things, then they will have failed, their mantra about being at the top table will have been exposed, and their support for charter schools will be shown up for what it really is – a plea for scraps from a government whose actions prove that Maori issues rank somewhere between nowhere and obscurity.

And that, Mr Speaker, is what this fuss is really all about. Because our kids, all of our kids, deserve the very best in education, not the failed experiment that Charter Schools have proven to be

“I’ve got a lot on over the next few weeks and the postponement means I can do justice to all my electorate activities and party leader responsibilities including the by-election in Ikaroa Rawhiti, as well as ensure the bill is given the promotion that it deserves”.

“It also gives me more time to persuade ACT, United Future, and National MPs that the Bill deserves to go to Select Committee.”

“Government recognises the need for food in schools programmes, and they clearly support the need for a public discussion on how best to run them here in Aotearoa. What I’m asking is simple: that they support the Bill at first reading so select committee can hear from experts and interested members of the public.”

“I am hugely grateful to those organisations involved in the ‘Community Campaign for Food in Schools’ for their support, and the NZ Food & Grocery Council for all their help as well. I am also grateful to Labour, Greens, NZ First, Maori Party, and Brendan Horan. I urge everyone to keep the focus on the main prize – feeding the kids.”

“I hear the Budget may include funding for a food-in-schools programme in conjunction with businesses, and that’s good, but feeding the kids should not have to rely on charity.”

“I agree with those commentators who say that the health and wellbeing of our children is primarily the responsibility of parents and communities, but where there are gaps created by economic decisions made at government level, then government must take up the responsibility until families and communities are capable of picking things up again.”

“And right now those gaps are simply too big for families to cope with. The Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group (EAG) on Solutions to Child Poverty estimated the economic cost of child poverty to be $6-8billion a year and said that around 270,000 NZ children were living in poverty.”

“The problem is beyond the ability of individual families to deal with, and requires a structured governmental approach to eliminating poverty and enabling whanau to reclaim control of their lives. And while all that’s being sorted out my Feed the Kids Bill will make sure that the kids don’t go hungry”.

“As the EAG pointed out, we need to spend in the short-term to prevent the longer-term negative impacts of child poverty – especially in terms of health and education impacts”.

“We have the time to change things now. I hope we have the courage.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380

Organisations supporting the Feed the Kids Bill:

• Anglican Church
• Auckland Action Against Poverty
• Barnardos
• Caritas Aotearoa NZ
• Child Poverty Action Group
• CTU Rūnanga
• Every Child Counts
• IHC
• Methodist Church
• NZ Educational Institute
• NZ Nurses’ Organisation
• NZ Principals’ Federation
• Plunket
• Poverty Action Waikato
• PPTA
• Quality Public Education Coalition (QPEC)
• Salvation Army
• Save the Children
• Te ORA (Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa): Māori Medical Practitioners’ Association
• Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora (Māori Women’s Welfare League)
• Te Waka Huia Māori Cultural Group
• Tertiary Education Union
• The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners
• Unicef NZ
• Women’s Refuge

“Although successive governments have starved kura kaupapa of funding from the get-go, they remain one of the most successful educational initiatives for Maori by Māori, in the last 100 years” said Harawira. “But today, the Maori Party is supporting their National and ACT Party buddies spending massive amounts of money on charter schools while kura get bugger all.”

Massey University Professor of Education, John O’Neill, said that early indications are that charter schools will cost the taxpayer more than twice as much as state schools.

“It’s one thing for the rich white boys to give their mates all the lollies while laughing at the poor little Maori kids getting by on scraps … it’s another thing entirely when their Maori buddy is cheering them on.”

“The Maori Party should be ashamed for turning their backs on everything that kura kaupapa Maori stands for.”
“Maori fought long and hard to get kohanga and then kura kaupapa because we knew that a commitment to the language, a commitment to whanau, and a commitment to kaupapa Maori were key elements in educational achievement for Maori students, and kura kaupapa have proven that to be the case time and time again.”

“Charter schools will have no accountability to whanau, no commitment to Maori language, no requirement for kaupapa Maori, no commitment to the Maori or NZ curriculum, no commitment to put registered teachers in front of kids, no accountability or transparency under the Official Information Act or the Ombudsmen Act – and they’re going to get more money than kura kaupapa ever got!”

“And without the oversight of the Auditor-General’s Office, they’re a scam waiting to happen” said Harawira, whose claims were backed up by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu’s submission on the Education Amendment Bill which said that charter schools were highly susceptible to fraud, waste and abuse.

Other submissions raised the fact that the charter schools model has failed overseas, including that of Dr Bronwyn Hayward, political scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury. Dr Hayward said that the charter school model was “naive and reckless” and that “our children deserve better.”
“Our kids all deserve the very best in education, not failed experiments from overseas.”

“This Thursday is Budget Day. That’s when we’ll see whether the Maori Party can deliver. If the Budget does not show at least a 25% increase in funding for kura kaupapa, an extension of the Kotahitanga programme, and a reinstatement of the Manaaki Tauira programme to assist Maori students in tertiary education, then the Maori Party will have failed. And if they have, Peter Sharples should resign as Associate Minister of Education with responsibility for Maori Medium Education for his failure to grow or even protect the success of kura kaupapa Maori while supporting the failed charter school model.”

Most MPs just pick somebody but I wanted to do something with a bit more meaning, so I visited schools, talked to senior Maori students, got them together, tested them and asked them to choose their Youth MP.

They were put through confidence tests, they learnt waiata and haka, they came up with skits about the Treaty and the Foreshore & Seabed, they talked about their views on a range of issues, and after having to listen to me rave on about politics they were also treated to two excellent guest speakers in Huhana Seve and Mike King.

And the rangatahi chosen to represent Tai Tokerau at the 2013 Youth Parliament was … ERU KAPA-KINGI … a Yr 13 student at Huanui College in Whangarei who is also a founding member of RAID, a group of young people tackling suicide head on … and did I mention that he comes from Te Kao …

Aniva-Storm Feau and Peter Taua were also chosen to come to Wellington for work experience, to get a feel for the Youth MP environment, and to provide support for their friend as well.

It was an excellent exercise which I hope to repeat with a full-on leadership wananga for senior Maori students later this year.

Then on Sunday I joined with 80 others in a protest at Ngaruawahia, after 12 of us had paddled downstream from Hamilton in a “Take it to the River” demonstration against government’s sale of Mighty River Power.

And what an awesome paddle it was too. 20 kilometres, and even though it started out a bit chilly it turned into a beautiful day. We got a safety briefing from young Turangawaewae Kerr then after a short karakia we hit the river, and lucky we had a support crew out ahead of us too, to warn all the duck shooters to put their guns away while we came past!

Our action was to remind everyone that the sale of shares in Mighty River Power is not just a political decision; it is a decision that also affects the life of the Waikato river itself. It was also to protest the increase in electricity prices which come as a natural consequence of privatisation.

I am mindful of comments already coming in from people whose power is being disconnected because they can’t pay their power bills – and that’s even before winter sets in. My staff are already working with WINZ to help struggling families deal with this problem which I see getting a lot worse as the winter cold bites. Tips? Short-term: more blankets less TV. Long-term: vote MANA to stop electricity price rises.

AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.

The plan is unlikely to deliver a single affordable home. Auckland Mayor Len Brown makes a plaintiff plea when he says –

“if we agree to faster approval of new developments, we should expect developers to provide a component of affordable housing.”

He may as well pee into the wind. Why would developers build affordable housing now? They haven’t for the past decade. They are driven by profit rather than building the homes Aucklanders need.

So what should the council be insisting on with these new fast-track developments?

Firstly property speculators and developers should be required to pay the added value on the land rezoned for development into a council fund for affordable housing. This is what happens with overseas developments in similar countries where the “value uplift” – tens of millions of dollars – is at least shared by the community rather than taken as an unearned windfall profit by the speculator/developer.

Secondly every development of more than 10 homes should be required to provide at least 20% as affordable homes. Again this is typical of housing developments in similar countries overseas.

Without provisions such as these developers and speculators will enrich themselves while housing affordability remains a pipedream for Aucklanders.

• A comprehensive capital gains tax to help drive property investors out of Auckland’s housing market (half of all Auckland house sales are to property investors rather than first home buyers) The lack of a capital gains tax is theft from future generations by people who already have a home…or 2 …or 3…or ….
• Building 20,000 new rental state houses in Auckland in the next two years. This will meet demand where it is greatest and will drive down rents in the private rental market which in turn will save the government on its accommodation supplement (more than a billion dollars per year at present)

We don’t expect to hear Nick Smith make this announcement today…

Mayoral candidate John Minto will be releasing a comprehensive housing policy for Auckland City early in his bid for the mayoralty. Watch this space.

A song and video featuring a young Kiwi rapper has been produced to promote Hone Harawira’s Feed the Kids bill which comes up for its first reading on Wednesday 5TH June.

The track, titled Stand Up and Fight, features Kiwi artist Joshy E and asks New Zealanders to open their eyes to child poverty in our country.

It is estimated that 270,000 Kiwi children are living in poverty with 80,000 going to school hungry each day.

“Kids need food to learn” says bill sponsor Hone Harawira. “No food, no learning, not much of a future”.
The Feed the Kids bill proposes government-funded food in schools programmes for decile one and two schools.

Labour, Greens, Maori Party, New Zealand First, and independent MP Brendan Horan have said they will support the Bill at first reading but one more vote is needed to cross the threshold and send it to the Select Committee stage. Pressure is mounting on National, especially since John Key has promised to introduce government-funded food in schools programmes in the past.

Joshy E says that being part of this campaign is the least he can do to support the bill. “It’s time for everyone to wake up and see that child poverty doesn’t just happen in other places, it’s happening here, now. This bill is a real step to help stopping that.”
Stand Up and Fight is available for free download from http://feedthekids.org.nz and you can check out the video at http://youtu.be/V4hDkENOy6M.

ENDS

For further information please contact Malcolm Mulholland on 027 765 6380