Action on poverty missing from Bennett’s plan

• Eddie
• 12 years ago
• Categories: child abuse, child welfare, poverty

I don’t have a problem with more information-sharing on vulnerable children. It’s not very National to create more bureaucracy but I guess that’s the point. Bennett could have done something substantial to improve the lives of children – extending the child payment to beneficiary families for 2% more on Bennett’s department’s budget. But National won’t spend the money on kids.

At the very least, she could reverse her policy of cutting the incomes of benefit families in half if they don’t put their kids in ECE. Bennett says she wants to stop harm to kids – well what about the harm that policy will cause to 2,000 kids a year? Again, it’s about cutting money.

So, after 4 years, all Bennett can produce is a bit of bureaucracy to look like she’s taking action.

Bennett seems to care. Either she’s good at faking (her concern always strikes me as a little too polished and inconsistent with her actions) or she’s just not got the tools and the smarts to do anything that really matters. Kind of sad either way, really.