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Let's blame Helen Clark for, well, everything

Let's blame Helen Clark for, well, everything


The New Zealand Policy Institute was disappointed to hear today the Prime Minister compare his government’s record on housing with that of the previous government.

NZ Policy Institute Chief Executive, Faero Wheeler, says, “It is with great appreciation the Prime Minister has stopped prefacing each of his statements with the phrase, ‘Labour had nine long years’, he now prefaces his statements with a personalised, "Under the nine years that Helen was Prime Minister, my friend...”.

It also noted that not only do the current government find it difficult to articulate the word ‘homelessness’, but they also seem more than willing to conflate the current housing market opportunities for middle-class people with that of the poorest people of our country, who are in fact home-less. That is, they do not currently occupy a space that includes walls or a roof over their head.

With organisations such as the Salvation Army estimating 55,000 will need their support in coming months, and of those, approximately 12% are waged, you would expect the government might be more anxious about the need within our communities.

NZ Policy Institute Chief Executive, Faero Wheeler, says, “With many salary and wage-earners only receiving static incomes as the cost of living and accommodation costs increases, is it any surprise?”

We can’t help but consider that the Salvation Army is a single community organisation that helps the needy, with many other people who require support services that other organisations will need to help.

An organisation that routinely provides real accommodation to people who require it (the Salvation Army), estimates they routinely provide approximately 30,600 bed nights. The current Minister estimates there to be 4000 homeless people in our country. If the Minister is correct, our homeless in New Zealand are housed for 7.6 days a year and should be appreciative.

ENDS

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