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Dear John, Papakura Budgeting Service Christopher Luxon and I visited the Papakura Budgeting Service offices in Wood Street Papakura recently and we met Denise Smith and Louise Tulp and their colleagues who run this service for anyone who asks for help with their financial situation in Papakura. Christopher encouraged Denise and Louise to talk about the problems their clients are facing particularly those being caused by the current high interest rates, rents, higher food and fuel costs and other everyday costs like house and car repairs that its clients have. These are not new problems but the current economic situation in New Zealand is certainly making things worse. Housing costs that are still rising, are significant contributors to people’s financial stress as is the rising cost of food. Denise confirmed to Christopher and me that even families where both parents worked, were failing to meet costs and certainly could not get ahead. Many two income families despite their hard work find they need help from foodbanks at this time. Denise and Louise represent opportunity and hope to those clients who genuinely want to get their finances under control. Denise talked about the financial literacy programmes that PBS offers and suggested that focussing on financial education and getting people into work were two areas that governments should focus on too. The Papakura Budgeting service tries to get people to focus on discipline around debt management and encourages people to save and build a buffer for coping with unexpected costs. Getting rid of debt is key and so is structuring payments to make them affordable. It is ironic that a Government now spending a billion more a week than five years ago, is not achieving positive changes for the economy and that it has no plan to bring in structures that would address these same matters and improve the current cost of living crisis. Economic data released on 25 January proves that New Zealand prices have continued to surge at a painfully fast pace, increasing by 7.2 per cent in the year to December. It is worrying that this surge is continuing here even while
inflation eases off around the world and especially as international
petrol prices are falling quicker than many had predicted. This situation could mean that the Reserve Bank will have to keep hiking interest rates to get runaway prices under control. Christopher suggested that Labour should have been trimming and easing off on costs but instead it has kept spending on things like the poorly targeted cost of living payment and wasteful policies like the TVNZ-RNZ merger. Right there is $300million that could have been spent on treating children with cancer. Christopher and I agree that a government shows it cares by managing the economy well and getting out and listening to people in the community. “National would identify the underlying causes of domestic inflation, re-focus the Reserve Bank on price stability, stop adding costs and taxes to businesses, address workforce shortages, bring discipline back to Government borrowing and spending, and help Kiwis adjust to higher prices by letting them keep more of what they earn with a programme of income tax reduction,” said Christopher. This is what the Papakura Budgeting service was talking about at a domestic level but really it is just the same at a national level. Not spending what you don’t have and sensibly prioritising your spending are important. Co-governance As many will have heard recently, Christopher Luxon has been talking about co-governance and what it actually means. It has been hinted at by the Labour government since I discovered the He Puapua report, but “Co Governance” has not been well explained and certainly not publicly debated. Christopher has called on the government to model a proper adult conversation on these matters and he said he stood by his comments at Ratana because they were in context and honest. And Christopher was clear: there will be no wholesale division of New Zealand nor of public services under a National government. Many of us are concerned that we are now looking at confiscation of water assets, two sets of public services and central consolidation in Wellington of health and education for example but to what end? We have every reason to be concerned given the focus of the current government. Why don’t we hear about this on the national broadcasters? Christopher and I faced quite a large media pack around midday in Papakura on 25 January. They quizzed us for at least 30 minutes. The same evening on the news at 6pm, the public heard about the swearing in of the new Prime Minister that occurred later the same afternoon. Our media stand up was not mentioned. Nor was it in the local press. Who makes that decision - to spend money on sending out 4 or 5 reporters including very well-known ones, to be in Papakura for probably 90 plus minutes and six or more photographers who shot hundreds of pictures and videos and then it all apparently went on the cutting room floor? Is it any wonder people use social media to get their news instead of tuning in to our national broadcasters? This is going to be an interesting year and we have only just started. I hope you had a lovely Waitangi Weekend, Hon Judith Collins |
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