11.00a.m, 23 November 2011

Second hunger striker at Occupy Auckland

A second protestor at the Occupy Auckland camp in Aotea Square has taken to refusing food. The action began on Monday 21st November, exactly one week after Andy Hendrie began his hunger strike, which today entered day ten.

Morgan Gibbs, 17, from Whangaparaoa, has been at the camp since the occupation began on 15 October. She said 'We are frustrated at the lack of attention being given to this urgent issue of child hunger. Not only do we have tens of thousands of children hungry in this country, but I see for myself firsthand the desperation of the youth'.

'Many people in New Zealand don't realise that the poverty being experienced by children, the unemployed, low income earners and the elderly has become a national disgrace, and is not becoming of the egalitarian society that we are perceived to be by those outside our country' said Gibbs.

With the New Zealand election only days away, and with two hunger strikers drawing attention to an issue that both major parties seem intent on ignoring, this action puts the heat on the major political parties.

The first hunger striker, Hendrie, has lost none of his determination, despite media apathy since his action was announced last week. 'I am sharing in some of the pain that tens of thousands experience every day in this country' he said. 'This is distressing, and is the brutal reality of our current economic and political arrangements; arrangements the Occupy movement is trying to change'.

ENDS

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