In The News...

Child Poverty in NZ is Extremely Common!

An article in today’s NZ Medical Journal (30/03/12) finds that New Zealand’s investment in children is low by OECD standards. 

 The report highlights poverty as a major driver of preventable illnesses amongst children. There are 230,000 children in New Zealand currently living in poverty. An extremely high number when you think that New Zealand’s whole population is little over 4 million.

 Prof Innes Asher from the Children’s Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said, “New Zealand needs to take immediate action to address child poverty.  While reports are written and committees deliberate, children are growing up in extremely deprived conditions.  A year is not a long time for a government committee, but in the development of a child it is crucial.  We know that childhood illnesses can have life-long consequences, including cardiovascular disease and mental illness in adult life.”

 The Southern young Nats solution to this problem is to give out a few jars of marmite to the poor… hardly a solution!

 OGNA’s solution is simple: work from the bottom up rather than the top down. Job creation, free education and a higher minimum wage would pull families out of poverty and New Zealand’s children along with them. 

National to Sell our Gambling Laws to SkyCity Casino

Harmful gambling can cause stress-related physical and psychological ill health and over 75000 New Zealanders suffer from inferior Mental Health as a result of problem gambling. Other adverse effects include family breakdown, domestic violence, criminal activity such as fraud, disruption to or loss of employment and social isolation. Harmful gambling also profoundly impacts on the physical, emotional, and financial health of family, friends, workmates and others in the wider community.

This is well known by the government. Over the past years pokie machine restriction laws have been put in place to prevent problem gambling and money has been put into rehab programs for problem gamblers.

Despite this the National government has decided to sell the gambling laws that aim to prevent people developing gambling addictions in return for a $350million convention centre in   central Auckland! …Mind you we shouldn’t be overly surprised. It wasn't that long ago, after all, that Key’s Government agreed to change our employment laws to suit American film giants Warner Bros, the makers of The Hobbit.

This goes to show just how undemocratic our “democracy” is as large corporations just have to ability to change law by throwing money at the government. Ordinary people have no say in this, which completely shows where the governments priority is –to make more money. It doesn’t matter whether the changes are going to negatively affect people or not, they are concerned with profit and nothing more – showing the inherent downfall of the capitalist system.

 We need a new system – where the focus is on improving people’s lives, not on profit. To do this we must strengthen our communities, not weaken them by increasing the number of people with gambling addictions. Mr Key is free to sell and cut whatever he likes if we let him. Over the last few years we have been, as our education system, welfare system, and state assets slowly disappear. It is us who have let this happen and it will not stop until we organise, take to the streets and show our voice.

Homophobia in Chile

On March 3, Daniel Zamudio was sleeping in a the San Borja park in Santiago when a group of four young Neo-Nazis beat him, kicked him, burned him with cigarettes, and carved swastikas into his body before leaving him for dead. The reason?- because he was homosexual. These heinous crimes have left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Chilean public and have lead to an outcry to change the laws and penalize this type of violence in the country which has very weak  anti-discrimination laws.

Although Nazism seems like it would not appeal to youths with at least some indigenous ancestry, according to research by journalist Lygia Navarro, most Chilean youth became involved in neo-Nazism because of economic disenfranchisement, and they direct their hatred toward those whom they believe to be a threat to society (and, in effect, the raza chilena or Chilean race), such as homosexuals, Peruvian immigrants, alcoholics, drug addicts, thieves, and punk rockers. 

A large reason this happens is because the left is weak. It must grow and present an active challenge to Nazi ideas- redirecting youths anger and frustration at the system that leaves them jobless with few prospects - not towards each other. Gay, lebian, bisexual and transgendered people must be free from violence, harassment and legal constraints, and be   extended the same rights as others, including the right to marry and divorce in order to prevent prejudice and attacks such as the attack on Daniel Zamudio.

Capitalism, in Chile and the rest of the world, divides the working class, based on sexual, gender, racial, national and other distinctions. In order to create a world of equality we must overcome these divisions and fight for the rights of all oppressed people which includes fighting to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Through collective grass roots action this can be achieved.