While discussing the Budget some commentators on Thursday’s Radio National “Afternoons with Jim Mora”, it may even have been the man himself, asked was not the Standard and Poor that everyone is so respectful of the same organisation that got us all into financial strife in the first place. There was a suggestion that New Zealand should take the Iceland Solution and ignore them.
It is revealing that if you Google – NZ Budget 2011 Poor- you will find a lot of comment about Standard and Poor, and the fact that the Budget “staves off” a credit rating down grade. There is not much comment about “the poor” The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS) says the changes in the Working for Families regime will see lower income families getting some small increases in their weekly wage, but this will be more than negated by the additional costs imposed by Kiwi Saver and the increases in costs on food, petrol, accommodation and other basic necessities says
“The changes made in this Budget tend to cement in these inequalities and build on last year’s tax cut rational of making the better-off better off and the worst-off no worse of. The kind of change that will make a real difference to our foodbank, budgeting, family counseling and social services clients is an increase in the minimum wage, benefit levels and access to income related rental accommodation. This will create hope and provide a pathway forward for the most vulnerable in our communities.”
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