OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell
A report from the Chief Executive of the NZ Council of Christian Social Services has made some headlines this morning. It’s called Kua Mahue/ Left Behind: Poverty in Aotearoa in 2026
None of the content particularly surprises. Lots of statistics (many quite dated) about who is in poverty, followed by the ‘drivers and determinants’ which include unemployment, inadequate benefits, debt, lack of social housing, the fuel crisis, climate change, poor mental health, discrimination and colonisation – specifically, “The failure of the Crown to protect the social and economic wellbeing of Maori [which] breaches the obligations of Te Tiriti.” Then the ‘cure’.
I wait with bated breath for someone purportedly representing Christians to mention other drivers such as, having children with no means to support them, separation, alcohol and substance abuse and addiction, not acquiring educational qualifications or skills, committing crime. But that would involve blaming the individual instead of the ‘system’. That would be judgmental and an anathema to those operating in this space.
What space is that?
The author of the report completed a postgraduate degree between 2014 and 2016 which “focused heavily on inequality and social policy in Aotearoa.” She went on to become a political advisor to the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and a senior political advisor to Hon Carmel Sepuloni. No disclaimer is made with the report.
Yet the recommendations it makes are totally political:
Introduce a Poverty Reduction Act to commit to freeing New Zealanders from poverty; increase benefits and reduce sanctions; index benefits back to CPI or wages – whichever is higher; restore a benefit akin to the old sickness benefit with a higher payment rate; allow beneficiaries to earn more from work without losing their benefit; build more social housing; introduce GST rebates on food for low income families and remove asset thresholds for those who need or already receive the accommodation supplement.
Right out of the Labour or Green Party playbooks.
I’d be happy to take a bet with anyone that we will eventually see the author running for parliament. She typifies the career politician on the left.
What frustrates though is, faced with the evidence of policy failure, she still demands more of the same.
The report states:
“In 2018, in response to the rising rate of child poverty in Aotearoa, the Government introduced the Child Poverty Reduction Act. Under the Act, the Government is required to set three- and ten-year targets, while how New Zealand is tracking against the measures is reported annually through data from the Household Income and Living Survey (HILS) (previously the Household Economic Survey). In 2026, 8 years after the Act’s introduction, these targets have not been achieved, with no significant reduction in child poverty rates, despite initial improvements following the 2021 Wellbeing budget.”
Despite the failure of the Child Poverty Reduction Act the author calls for yet more legislation, namely the Poverty Reduction Act.
Welfare has not made New Zealand a stronger, more cohesive and productive society. Unemployment is 5.3 percent – not high by historical standards (though the report’s author may not recall the 1990s and the GFC). The low-skilled say they can’t find jobs yet migrants come here and work in arduous, often vital roles many New Zealanders have turned their backs on. Because they can. Interviewed about the report, a Salvation Army spokeswoman said, “Around 10 percent of those needing food support are in employment.” Meaning ninety percent are on welfare.
Being ‘in poverty’ is predominantly about being on welfare long-term and the associated mind-set. The country needs less welfare dependence, not more, which is what bigger and better benefits inevitably lead to. If the current 12.8 percent of working-age people on welfare was significantly reduced, the genuinely needy could be better taken care of.
But here comes the next generation of socialists determined to build a nirvana through tax-and-redistribute policies that simply do not work and never will.
