Over the past few weeks, I've been meeting with various charities in the Bay of Plenty that help us fight to close the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots in our community.
I am glad to see that some of us still hold onto the core Kiwi values of service and togetherness. But I am challenged by what can only be referred to as a mean-spiritidness by this Government, wide-spread enough to inflict great need upon our charities and our community.
Our charities are underfunded. Many of our children go hungry. More and more men and women are living on our streets. Education is beyond the reach of many. We now speak of generation rent - an entire generation that will never own a home.
The 'Kiwi Dream' of a home, a batch and a boat could now be spoken of as the 'Kiwi Delusion'. Government legislation continues to take away our footing - from the Kiwisaver kick-start programme to the advantages of the welcome home loan.
And Government's argument that nothing should be gained for free flies in the face of all of the programmes they benefited from, before they changed the game for future generations.
We know from our own history that it is working together, for the good of the whole that we thrive as a nation. And so, we must not allow government policies to drive us apart and divide us from the principles that underpin our nation.
