Dr Wills says child poverty should be a key issue in next year's election. Photo / File
Advocate targets motorists, well-off, elderly Children's Commissioner, Dr Russell Wills, wants motorists, the well-off and the elderly to take less from taxpayers so that more public funding can go into tackling child poverty.
Dr Wills is raising the stakes in his personal crusade for poor children in an opinion article in today's Herald, saying child
poverty should be a key issue in next year's election.
He has used charitable funding from the J.R. McKenzie Trust to poll 750 people, finding that voters now put child poverty ahead of unemployment as a "very important" issue facing the country - 63 per cent rated child poverty as very important, compared with 61 per cent who felt the same about the cost of living and only 52 per cent for unemployment.
He is also appealing to groups representing motorists and the elderly, and health bosses, to support diverting public funding into measures that would help poor children, such as lifting family tax credits for preschoolers, more social housing, and extending free doctors' visits to all children under 18.
