State of the Nation – dire

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, February 12th, 2025 - 18 comments
Categories: Economy, food, housing, national, poverty, same old national - Tags:

Remember National’s promise to get us back on track? How is that working out.

According to the Salvation Army things are going backward. Their latest State of the Nation report suggests that in many areas things are getting worse.

From the accompanying press release:

Key findings in the report include rising unemployment, with more than 400,000 people needing welfare support in December 2024—the highest number since the 1990s. Food insecurity among families with children has also risen sharply, with half of all Pacific children reported as going without food often or sometimes.

The State of the Nation 2025 report also highlights that while there has been an increase in the number of social housing units available, the pace of new builds is decreasing, and there are rising numbers of people who are homeless. Rent for private rentals continues to be unaffordable for many on low incomes.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s prison population has also grown, remaining high compared to other developed nations.

Dr Robinson says of the report: “We can’t wish away the increasing levels of poverty and deprivation that this report is highlighting, but we can prioritise addressing the basic needs of people so that our whānau go beyond barely surviving to seeing them thrive. We need an economy that ensures all people have the basics and one that puts people first.”

The report highlighted a number of issues.

There was a large decline in the proportion of Māori who feel it is easy to express their identity (75% in 2023/24, down from 84% in 2018).

Māori are almost seven times more likely to be imprisoned. The reimprisonment rate and overall imprisonment rates are rising, with a much harder impact on Māori.

Emergency Housing numbers have plummeted, from 4000 in September 2023 down to 1400 in September 2024, and below 500 by December 2024. But homelessness is rising. Downtown Community Ministries Wellington reported an increase from 330 to 464 in the number of people they are working with. Who would have thought that kicking people out of emergency housing would cause homeless to increase. And the Government would have you believe that they are solving the problem.

And the Salvation Army distributed fewer parcels in 2024 (84,000) compared with 2023, but also had fewer resources as food support funding from government was reduced. At a time when food insecurity is increasing the Government has reduced its contribution.

We are clearly not back on track. The country’s egalitarian instincts have been derailed.

18 comments on “State of the Nation – dire ”

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  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    12 February 2025 at 8:56 am

    The local Far North Facebook community page where I live has become a real begging bowl lately for the tiniest of items or services–a spare seat in a vehicle for a ride, bedding for kids, there are generous people too who give away their surplus household items, and veggies for the Pātaka Kai.

    People sleep in vans in various spots, some only drive at night in vehicles with no WOF that should be at the wreckers. Busker and hawker numbers are increasing, a lot of lost souls just hanging around. Doctors not taking patients, there are some nurse led clinics that get to remote areas if you can!

    There is a fair amount of iwi organisation support in the North, but the people have to find ways to do it themselves as NGOs are stripped of funding and people sanctioned off benefits and sometimes trespassed from MSD offices.

    It is grim for many–bring on a fresh election.

    • tWig 1.1
      12 February 2025 at 1:24 pm

      Of course we should be like the US, beggars on every town corner, mad people and addicts in the streets: "it's the free market, dummy! Let the piss trickle down."

  2. Phillip ure 2
    12 February 2025 at 9:32 am

    One in four nz children suffering from food poverty…

    One in two pasifika children suffering from food poverty..

    All while the rich bathe in their extra cash…

    What are labour/greens promising to do about this obscenity…?

    ..and what share of the blame for this state of affairs will they shoulder..?

    (Memo to ad: this is the outcome from what you described as us being 'blessed' by these years of 'stable' governments..

    And what I describe as the long predicted outcome from four decades of neoliberal incrementalism..from both major parties..)

    And will the left go into the next election just promising more of the same…

    Or will we get the economic/environmental revolution we so need…?

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      12 February 2025 at 9:52 am

      Ending “more of the same”…such as roll over of the Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act, SOEs, etc. that occurs each election is the key, particularly for NZ Labour…

      “For the Many not the few”, eco socialist policies such as Wealth Tax, CGT and re-nationalisation of power generation and supply has to be the united policy from Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori if it is going to be an election that attracts alienated and 2023“buyers regret” voters into participating.

      The demographic is changing with each reactionary boomer funeral in favour of new gens, a number of other boomers are doing it hard now, and like me opposed Rogernomics from day one. A fertile country of just 5 mill that chooses not to feed, house or medically care for all its people? Not acceptable, Greens and TPM have good policy, just Labour needs to move into the 21st century–business is not going to save anyone–though Labour did get state housing right with some big builds and a number of other policies now trashed by CoC.

      Trump might even kick us and Canada out of 5 Eyes at some stage! no need to suck up to the yanks anymore which would be an enlightenment.

  3. Kay 3
    12 February 2025 at 9:38 am

    I will never understand how RWers are more than happy for their 'hard earned taxes' to foot the bill for avoidable and highly expensive prison and hospital beds, when the simple solution to much of this (secure affordable healthy housing and enough money to live on) works out to much less. I though these business types would be big on cost-benefit analysis?

    I can only think it's the punitive nature that so many Kiwis seem to have.

  4. aj 4
    12 February 2025 at 11:21 am

    A damning indictment on this government.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018974535/pacific-children-worst-off-in-state-of-the-nation-report

    Kathryn speaks to Dave Letele from Buttabean Motivation Foodbank in South Auckland and Julie Chapman, the CEO and founder of Kidscan that helps children affected by poverty with food and clothing.

    • Ad 4.1
      12 February 2025 at 1:48 pm

      And a huge shoutout to the Salvation Army team both putting together the report, and for all the Frontline work they do with poor, alcoholic, mentally damaged, jailed, hungry, and homeless New Zealanders.

      Kia kaha.

  5. Reality 5
    12 February 2025 at 11:28 am

    Kay, yes we Kiwis do have a punitive streak. And as you say, the lock them up and throw away the key types are content to spend many millions on ever expanding prisons and prison populations.

    David Seymour is a very strange human being, to say the least. His Land Rover antics, with, as far as I could see, no seat belt on, just for cheap publicity, was childish and could have caused some sort of accident, harming bystanders, if it had toppled.

    It has stayed in my mind often since a year or so ago, that what sort of human being says "good" as he did, when it was announced there would be thousands of public servants to be made redundant. People with mortgages, rent to pay, children to look after and he thinks it is "good".

    • Tony Veitch 5.1
      12 February 2025 at 11:43 am

      Probably the classic definition of a sociopath!

      • Obtrectator 5.1.1
        12 February 2025 at 12:08 pm

        Yep, different only in degree from the likes of Pol Pot. Spent most of his career in various forms of political theorising, never done any proper productive work, no idea of how wealth is actually created. His whole “revolution” basically an intellectual exercise.

    • Kay 5.2
      12 February 2025 at 2:16 pm

      And had dear David injured himself in pursuit of said attention seeking, ACC would pick up the pieces. Which I'm sure he would be happy to accept.

      (Meanwhile, I've been forced to spend over 2k I definitely don't have to fix an injury that ACC semantics say isn't an injury. Now if I'd been recklessly jeep driving…)

  6. Ad 6
    12 February 2025 at 12:23 pm

    But you're fine if you're part of the 1% who have at least 2 of the following:

    (a) have a good base of intergenerational wealth under you already, and aren't too mortgage-exposed;

    (b) don't rely on the government at all, or are one of the 200 investors to have your deal already legislated through;

    (c) own a dairy farm with reasonably low debt;

    (d) Own at least 1 house in Queenstown-Lakes, or the top tier suburbs of Auckland and Christchurch, and the rich periphery of Tauranga, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, or Wellington;

    and

    (e) Know at least 3 people any time you are in the Koru Lounge.

    Does that even get us to 10,000 people across the country? Maybe .05%?

  7. thinker 7
    12 February 2025 at 4:34 pm

    Goethe said "You can tell the character of a [person] by the way he treats someone who can't possibly do him any good"

    I feel like weeping when I think just how rotten this bunch of scoundrels is.

  8. Drowsy M. Kram 8
    12 February 2025 at 5:30 pm

    Remember National’s promise to get us back on track? How is that working out.

    Things are getting worse – unless you're wealthy and sorted. C'mon Lux, spit it out!

    "… and, um, you know, let's be clear, you know, I'm, I'm wealthy, I'm you know sorted…" [@7:33 minutes]

    Soon to be Sir Wealthy and Sorted – Kiwis know what he is saying, don’t you know.

    Bring us your wealthy and your privileged … [11 Feb 2025]
    As part of an ongoing attempt to dominate political discourse on Sunday National announced an expansion to the red carpet for rich immigrants immigration policy.

    Please God, send more rich kids – to my town.

    • Mike the Lefty 8.1
      12 February 2025 at 6:36 pm

      I'm still waiting for Luxon to honour his promise he made on the election 2023 TV debates to lower my cost of living by spending less.

      He is certainly spending less, but my cost of living keeps going up, and up, and up…..

      Only deceitful liars promise what they know they cannot deliver, or have no intention of delivering.

      That what Luxon is – a liar plain and simple.

      All the spin cannot disguise it, even though the media choose to ignore it.