Media Release
13 July 2004

Are Our Social Ills Unsolvable?

New Zealand First social services spokesperson Bill Gudgeon says New Zealand is in such a poor social state that the problems are becoming virtually unsolvable.

“The erosion of our social structure is now, in some cases, almost beyond repair. Left unchecked, it will become the key factor in this country’s slide into the third world,” said Mr Gudgeon.

“Despite promises from the Government to rectify the social ills of New Zealand, the elderly are still finding themselves at the bottom of the health list; criminal gangs grow stronger on the proceeds of crime; girls as young as 12 are prostituting themselves; and police have the impossible task of being the last 24-hour social agency.

“The gaps are now so wide for the disadvantaged, that many will remain in the disadvantaged column forever.

“The Government needs to take responsibility for the failure of schemes like Closing the Gaps so that they can work towards improving the situation, rather than pretending that they are making a difference,” said Mr Gudgeon.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>