The National Party leader, Christopher Luxon, says efforts to tackle poverty aren’t working in New Zealand and it’s time for a different approach.
His comments come amid a cost of living crisis, in which food prices and housing costs have spiked, and following the publication of new Government figures showing that 11% of children are still living in households experiencing material hardship.
“The real question we’ve got to start to ask ourselves is why aren’t we able to get the shift and the transition we need to see to be able to lift people out of poverty so they’re able to live a much more fulfilling, more prosperous life,” Luxon told Breakfast.
“I think after 40 years of doing the same stuff, we’ve actually got to start to say is there not a different approach, is there not a different way of doing it?”
He believes the key to this is what he describes as “social investment”, a term used by the former prime minister, Bill English, and one that Luxon says will be at the heart of National’s policies around poverty.
“Let’s identify the families that are doing it really tough and let’s get really bespoke and really targeted about what they actually need to be able to move forward.”
In order to do that, Luxon believes more of a focus is needed on employment and creating the right environment for this, which includes greater support for childcare and education.
“I think we’ve got to try much harder at it.”
When it comes to housing, he believes a two-pronged approach is needed to increase the number of state houses in line with the rising demand, while also working more closely with community housing providers.
“It’s hard and it takes time, I get it,” says Luxon.
“But we’ve actually got to get things done because we’re doing a lot of talking and we’re not getting a different set of results.”
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