If endorsed by the public in a referendum the new law will allow those who are terminally ill to request assisted dying.

Earlier in the day Stuff published an opinion piece by former prime minister Sir Bill English in which he offered five reasons for opposing the bill:

• It does not provide real protection from coercion.
• Many MPs will be finely tuned to the "hard cases". However, for all the talk about narrowing the legislation down, this bill. is much broader than the new Victorian law, as well as those states in the United States where only assisted suicide is available.
• There is the contentious and vexed question of the relationship between suicide rates and assisted dying.
• The review system does not include access to patient records, as is the case in the Netherlands. So it is a much weaker law in that regard.
• There is growing evidence from Canada and the US that people are choosing euthanasia or assisted suicide because of a lack of access to proper end-of-life care.

A Christchurch surgeon Phil Bagshaw has raised concerns about the bill going to a public referendum.

He said the issue was complicated and thought "pressure groups" on both sides would promote it as more simple than it was.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

He launched into a fierce defence of the right of medical professionals to conscientiously object to carrying out abortions if the changes were made. Read more

Mary English has worked as a general practitioner for 28 years.

She has a practice in the inner Wellington suburb of Kelburn.

They are both Catholics, but Bill English said euthanasia should not be seen as a battleground between believers and atheists, "just an issue of different belief systems".

He said the argument was more about advocating for the collective good than a specific religious view.

Sir Bill English'submission

Bill English said the legislation was flawed in principle and beyond salvaging in practice.

"What starts out as permitted will become desirable, and then for some will become an unconsented necessity - that's the slippery slope and there's actually no way around it."

He said:

• The criteria for who would be eligible to request assisted dying was too broad
• The test for whether a person had consented to die was too low
• There were too few consequences in place for anyone who broke the safeguards of the legislation.

The current bill was being supported by a small group of predominantly highly-educated pakeha, who placed high importance on personal autonomy Bill English said.

Dr Mary English's Submission

She said she was opposed to "state-sanctioned killing".

There was nothing in Seymour's bill sufficient to contain the incredible power over life which doctors would have.

"If you ask [doctors], ‘What is your bottom line?'...most importantly, we don't want to be responsible for the death of a patient that didn't need to happen."

Mary English expressed concern that elderly people would feel under pressure to kill themselves as if they were a burden, with not all families willing to provide necessary support and in some cases taking advantage of them.

Both Bill and Mary English drew a comparison with youth suicide.

"If assisted suicide is a triumph for autonomy and choice, how can youth suicide be a tragedy?" Mary English said.

Listen to submission

Source

• news.com.au
• pro.newsroom.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: screenshot

He recently told an Australian Catholic journalist that it had been a great privilege to work with English.

In an interview with Jordan Grantham in the Parramatta Dioceses newspaper, Catholic Outlook, Dew said, "I was always astounded at the breadth of his knowledge, his ability to talk on many issues, and the deep concern he has for people.

"His faith has certainly formed him to be someone who cares for others.

"He has a knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching and he carefully tried to apply that knowledge as prime minister."

Stuff published an opinion piece under the headline "Gentleman Bill English a good model of political civility."

Alex Penk, CEO of the Maxim Institute, an independent research and public policy think tank, said English's long political career was characterised by civility.

He noted that, after English had delivered his valedictory speech, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was one of the first across the floor of the debating chamber to congratulate him.

"Long-time political opponents like Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson and Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins were also among those in a packed chamber showing respect to English," he said.

Penk said English's valedictory speech was a great example of civility. "To the last line, he was full of deep conviction."

Bernard Hickey, in a piece posted in Newsroom under the heading Bill English's legacy of compassionate conservatism, said English "was as genuine and as thoughtful a politician as I've seen in New Zealand."

Hickey said English was able to turn his decency into some policy wins and an economy that has mostly served the nation well.

Source

• catholicoutlook.org
• stuff.co.nz
• newsroom.co.nz
• Image: ozkiwi2001.org

I can see why people don't want politics to be all about personality. Our age is dominated by a celebrity culture that's often superficial.

People rightly don't want superficial selfishness to seep into our politics. We want politics to be a contest of ideas - an informed forum for debating how our country can be better.

But I think some of what we label as ‘personality politics' is legitimate, even essential.

That's because part of what we call ‘personality politics' is also about a politician's personal values and ethos. And values - commitments that reflect our view of what a good life is - matter in politics.

Don't just take my word for it.

Here's British writer George Monbiot, in his just released book, Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis: "Values are the bedrock of effective politics.

"They represent the importance we place on fundamental ways of being, offering a guide to what we consider to be good and worthwhile."

We see the values of politicians in the policies they talk about. But we also see their values in how they carry and conduct themselves personally, and how they interact with others.

Here's where ‘personality' can be relevant.

At a concrete level, having politicians with good personal values matters because they're meant to represent us. They should make us proud, not just in how they represent New Zealand overseas, but also in how they are as people around the country.

People were confident that Helen Clark, when she was Prime Minister, took seriously New Zealand's commitments overseas.

Many liked John Key's relaxed but affable way of interacting with people domestically. It is not too idealistic to hope that politicians should reflect the best of who we are as a country.

Relatedly, politicians don't just represent us - they affect us. They're role models.

President Donald Trump's bullish, aggressive style is legitimising bullish aggressiveness in the American population. We have many sides of who we are as people, and politicians draw out certain qualities in us.

Canadian writer Naomi Klein has said we must recognise "our inner Trump" that's being tapped into by the current US presidency.

Continue reading

• Max Harris, author of The New Zealand Project, is a PhD student at All Souls College in Oxford, England.

But, they can change.

He made the comments when opening Marist Challenge House in Johnsonville, Wellington.

"The challenge of changing things in government, in agencies and the economy is relatively easy when compared to the challenges some of our young people face.

"Young people, 14, 15, 16, lead difficult complex lives, and yet they find it within themselves to overcome the most difficult and sometimes toxic mixes of disadvantage", he said.

English acknowledged that historically, Government has not done that good a job in dealing with the most complex of families and vulnerable people.

"It is difficult for large bureaucracies with billions of dollars to understand how to connect with a person, a family, and most particularly how to do it on their terms", he said.

Challenge 2000 changes lives

"Working with young people is more than providing a service to someone", the Prime Minister said.

Emphasising that a quality relationship is important when helping young people change their lives, English identified the relationship needed to be one of trust, one that's reliable, and a relationship that can withstand the test if things go wrong.

Enthused by the work of this youth development, community and Family agency, the Prime Minister was very pleased to join with Challenge 2000 and its extended family and supporters.

He told the 400 strong crowd that what makes Challenge so effective is "that at its core Challenge has a deep respect for the integrity of every person, no matter what they've done, no matter who they are, no matter where they've started.

"There's a whole lot of things happen here in this place with these people and their values which you cannot get from a Government.

"It (Government) can support it, it can enable it, but it can't replace it".

The Prime Minister said he is constantly inspired by the challenges he sees young people face and how they rise to meet them.

He noted enthusiastically that Challenge 2000 works; it actually changes lives.

English commented he was pleased to see Challenge 2000 working with the new agency for vulnerable children, Oranga Tamariki, where we have collectively acknowledged, that a significant number of those children who most need care, have not historically had the best of it.

Marist Challenge House shows respect

The Prime Minister also congratulated the Society of Mary (Marist) for purchasing the building on behalf of Challenge, saying that the building shows respect to young people.

Commenting on the new premises he said, "Often when we look at the services which work with our most vulnerable they don't show respect, they don't look like places where we think we are putting people who are valued. And that's what's changing here."

Addressing the gathering, leader of the Society of Mary (Marists), Fr David Kennerley, noted that if people only see Marist priests and brothers in church, they will think that being in church is all that a "Marist" is about; is all that Marists do.

Kennerley emphasised that Marist as a name has to mean something and Jesus Gospel manifesto of proclaiming 'freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind and setting free the oppressed' is not an optional extra but is intrinsic all all Christians.

Echoing the Prime Minister, Kennerley said the underlying ethos of Marist Challenge House is people.

He described the Marist Challenge House as a visible sign of what the Marist name means.

Local leaders lend support

Long time supporter of Challenge 2000, Ohariu MP and Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter Dunne described Challenge 2000 as the preeminent youth development agency.

He congratulated Challenge 2000 on what it has become and for its place in helping make young people confident, bold, and looking positively towards the future.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester also acknowledged the commitment of Challenge 2000 to the capital city.

"Challenge 2000 through their values of social justice, of the notion of love works, that if we put a tender arm around our young people, support them, celebrate them, we get them on the right path", he said.

Earlier, the Cardinal John Dew asked God's blessing on the Marist Challenge House, praying for all those who come looking for support and encouragement in their lives.

He gave thanks for the work of Challenge 2000 as it stands up for others, teaches, encourages and supports vulnerable youth and families. He prayed that Challenge 2000 would always be a light in the darkness.

• Photos from Marist Challenge House opening

Brownlee says he welcomes the visit. He said the United States and New Zealand "share a deep interest in maintaining peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific region"

The turtle in the room is climate change and how it might have an impact on the "peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific region."

The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network says Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord signals his support for the fossil fuel industry which directly threatened people living in the Pacific islands.

Tillerson had supposedly been urging Trump not to do so. Shortly after he was confirmed as Secretary of State, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to him about climate change.

The US Bishops' letter to Tillerson drew his attention to what Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical letter Laudato Si about climate change.

The Bishops said they thought Tillerson appeared share the "nuanced understanding of climate change, expressed in the encyclical..." which they said "creates space for reasonable people to recognise, without controversy, that the climate is changing and highlights the importance of adaptation in response.

"Adaptation policy is fundamentally concerned with helping God's creatures and all human beings, especially those who are poor, to to adapt to the effects of climate change, regardless of the causes ..."

New Zealand aid in the coming year will go towards helping Pacific nations cope with and prepare for the negative effects of climate change.

The director for the Council for International Development, an umbrella body for non-government organisations in New Zealand, said this should not be the case as it is taking money away from existing overseas development initiatives.

Sources

• nzherald.co.nz
• usccb.org
• stuff.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: images.huffingtonpost.com

Their views are influenced by the experience of their church congregations and church based social agencies in most New Zealand communities.

The church leaders told the Prime Minister that an insufficient supply of safe and affordable housing in New Zealand is contributing to a level of poverty that is fracturing the well-being of people and communities and hindering the educational progress of our children.

"Ensuring everyone has access to affordable housing is perhaps the most important means to lifting New Zealanders out of poverty and boosting the nation's collective health and prosperity," said the church leaders.

The church leaders thanked Government for providing increased support for homeless people, but asked for more urgent attention to permanently address people's long-term housing need.

Because sustainable communities can only occur where there is housing security, the leaders presented a comprehensive strategy on each aspect of the housing continuum, urging ministers to implement a broader strategy of ownership, rental, social and emergency housing solutions.

The church leaders also sought input into the development of the pilot community refugee sponsorship model announced last year.

Churches have supported the increased intake of refugees from Syria through actions such as setting up homes and providing other forms of support, and see room for increased partnership to assist and support refugee families living in and being brought to New Zealand.

Government's social investment approach to social policy was discussed. While supporting the idea of social investment, the church leaders raised questions about the narrowness of this approach.

They felt a more successful social investment approach would identify how to get the right help to the people who needed it, when they needed it, and when they were motivated for change.

Their church leaders' paper proposed a more coordinated system to support such an approach.

The church leaders that met with the Prime Minister included: Anglican Archbishop Philip Anglican, Baptist Daniel Palmer, Catholic Cardinal John Dew, Methodist Rev Prince Devanandan, Presbyterian Rev Richard Dawson, and Salvation Army Commissioner Andrew Westrupp. Church social policy advisors also attended the meeting.

Source

• Supplied
• Image: interest.co.nz

"I'm the leader of the government and we do all sorts of things from locking up criminals to paying for the school," he told Sada who ticked the question on his clipboard, nodded, then asked for an autograph.

English was sharing breakfast with the students at Holy Family School in Cannons Creek, north of Wellington.

Sada wants to be a journalist. The 11-year-old, armed with a clipboard, waited until the PM had finished his Weetbix before he posed his toughest question.

The grilling continued when 9-year-old Jayelle Temarama set aside her Milo, shook English's hand and got right down to business.

"How exactly did you get this job?"

"If you wait long enough you get a turn," English replied. "I did my other job well so they gave me this one."

English went on to visit near-by Windley School to re-launch The Graham Dingle Foundation's Kiwi Can Programme back into Porirua.

Foundation regional manager Lee Pownall said 600 students from Windley, Maraeroa and Bishop Viard College would benefit from the life-skills programme.

A lack of funding saw the Porirua programme end some years ago so the re-launch was a triumph, he said.

Windley principal Rhys McKinley said the programme matched the values already taught at the school and the children loved taking part.

"We're a low-decile school and we do have extremes so when people talk about the 1 per cent of the nation who struggle that's 20 per cent of our kids. We need all the help we can get."

Kiwi Can coordinator Faafoi Seiuli was delighted to have the nationwide programme back in his home town.

Source

• Holy Family school facebook.com
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

I am Ngati Porou through my mother, and I'm Weira — Welsh — through my father.

After spending 14 years in state care, and 25 years in social work, I consider myself an expert on what it is truly like for a child with Maori whakapapa to grow up separated from all that intrinsically belongs to them.

I was five when I was taken into state care, and 18 when I was finally able to escape it. My mother, miserable and unwell, had left us, for her own survival as well as ours, to escape my father's violence.

She was deemed to have "abandoned her children", and so my father was awarded legal custody of us.

He then applied to Social Welfare to have us temporarily placed in its care. On my fifth birthday, he took me and my two brothers (my older sister was placed with other caregivers) to a children's home, and left, promising to be back for us soon.

I waited every day for weeks and months after that, but it would be many years before I saw him again.

Over the years, other children came and went, but my siblings and I stayed in those homes. To everyone who came to visit and view the "underprivileged" children, we looked well adjusted and cared for.

But our experience contradicted appearances and we suffered things children are not supposed to: psychological, sexual, and other physical abuse over many years. It still makes me sick to say that.

I didn't bear it silently. I fought to protect my brothers and me from the abuse we experienced from adults charged with our care. I spoke out at every opportunity.

But I was never believed. I was labelled a troublemaker and my complaints were ignored. I still suffer from the guilt of not being able to do more to protect my brothers. Continue reading

• Paora Crawford Moyle is a department member of the School of Health and Social Services, Massey University.

Prime Minister Bill English disagrees.

On the other hand Labour leader, Andrew Little believes reform is necessary as does his newly elected deputy, Jacinda Ardern.

On TVNZ's Q & A programme on Sunday morning English told interviewer Corrin Dann that he is not in favour of liberalising the abortion laws and would not vote for legislation that did.

English went on to say that it would be an issue dealt with in a parliamentary vote, and his would be one vote in 121.

He hoped that others would vote with him.

Later in the same programme Andrew Little said English was "deeply conservative on an issue like abortion."

"I happen to differ from him on that. I think that the advisory committee is right."

Jacinda Ardern told the programme, "I think those recommendations do need to be pursued. That's my view, but it is a conscience vote."

She said English was right to point out that it is a conscience issue but she thought many New Zealanders would be surprised to know that currently those laws are contained in the Crimes Act 1961.

"And so, for obvious reasons, that has been raised by the Abortion Supervisory Committee. So they've called for a review, and when you've still got abortion in the Crimes Act, that's understandable, and it would be timely."

Sh said her position "on issues like this has always been regardless of what my view is, why should I impose that view on others and remove their choice?"

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• scoop.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

Of course, he hasn't done it all on his own.

His wife, Mary, who is also a doctor, shares his values and has also defended them publicly - most recently in an oral submission to a government committee studying end-of-life issues as a result of the latest campaign for euthanasia in this country.

It's no secret that the couple are practising Catholics, and they both come from large families.

Mary is the eldest of 13 children of a Samoan father and an Italian mother, while Bill is the third youngest of 12, brought up on a farm in the south of New Zealand, helping with both farm work and domestic chores from a young age.

(He famously at one stage made school lunches for most of his siblings.)

In a recent profile of the couple in the New Zealand Women's Weekly, billed as the couple's "private love story", Mary said a large family was part of the plan when they married in their mid-20s:

"Bill was quite keen for a big family and I said I was up for that - as long as they were all girls!" laughs Mary. "It tempted the fates because I ended up with five sons!"

Politics being a rather brutal thing at times, Bill's generally second-fiddle role in politics (he was deputy prime minister and finance minister under John Key, who resigned from the top job in December) has probably protected the English children while they were growing up.

With five now in their twenties and the youngest 17 (the only one at home), the risks are not so great, but their opinion on dad taking on the PM's role was sought anyway - and they were supportive. Continue reading

Sources

• MercatorNet, article by Carolyn Moynihan, who is deputy editor of MercatorNet.
• Image: Stuff

This style of diplomacy has been going on for a number of years.

Whether it's morning-after kayaking on Sydney harbour or taking in our own Southern Alps, the annual Prime Ministerial sleepover says a lot about the relationship between New Zealand and Australia.

That relationship is almost unique for neighbouring countries - close enough culturally and historically to share a lot in common, but far enough away geographically to never have come into real conflict over borders or resources.

The relationship is built on shared values.

They include a strong sense of internationalism, of doing our bit in the world, whether that's in foreign conflicts, peacekeeping or overseas aid. And they include a commitment to honesty and giving people a fair go.

As anyone who can remember a childhood game of truth or dare will know, late at night on sleepovers is when a new level of honesty comes out.

It's when the relationship deepens - when we share secrets and tell the truth.

And that's what we need from English and Turnbull at Friday's soiree, because right now the Australian Government is betraying our shared values.

What has emerged in Australia in recent years would have been difficult to imagine just a decade or two ago.

On Nauru and Manus Island, over 2,000 refugees and people seeking asylum have been forcibly detained in conditions that Amnesty International has found amounts to the legal definition of torture - not a statement we make lightly.

In a tacit admission of guilt, when the Australian Government recently signed on to the UN's Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, they wrote in a carve-out for their refugee 'processing centres' on Nauru and Manus Island, knowing they would not pass international scrutiny.

Things are so bad, so hopeless, that after three years of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment on Manus Island, 21-year old Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari recently fled in a bid for asylum in Fiji.

Sadly, he was forcibly returned to Papua New Guinea to languish there some more.

This is not compassion. This is not a fair go. Continue reading

• Grant Bayldon is executive director of Amnesty International NZ.

Challenge staff discussed with English the services they provide to youth and how they could help if the age at which people are referred to the adult court was raised to 18.

The founder of Challenge 2000, Kitty McKinley said putting 17-year-olds through the adult courts and into prison was like putting them into a "training school on how to be a better criminal".

"We know what works; we have seen the damaging effects of 17-year-olds going through the adult court system."

The director of Challenge, Steve O'Connor said English was there to listen...and he did that.

O'Connor said it was a great opportunity to share their views and have a good general discussion.

"I think people don't understand the reality of the youth justice system and that leads to knee-jerk reactions."

English said he learned a lot from the visit, and also heard a number of issues that had been raised before. "It shows the kind of expert range of support [in New Zealand] for young people."

Though English was non committal about his personal view of raising the youth justice age to 18, he said it was something the Government would continue to discuss.

Source

• issuu.com
• Image: issuu.com

"They're enquiring, they're confident to ask. At that age, I would never have asked a politician a question, certainly not in public," he said.

"They're watching the world. There was a question about the US elections. When we were that age, we wouldn't have paid any attention to what's happening in the US election."

"I just really enjoy talking with younger people because they're forward-looking and basically optimistic," English said.

"It's a good way to make sure you [as a government] are on track because you're trying to create a country where they feel they have a stake and they can get ahead."

The school's head boy, Liam Gilheamy-Black said he had a better understanding of how politics worked and what the deputy prime minister actually does.

"I learned there is a lot of different structures that go into politics and it's important there is a diverse group of people, that they're not all too similar."

Gilheamy-Black has no political aspirations - he wants to be a doctor - and he's leaning towards voting Labour. But he responded positively to hearing English's life story.

"I thought he would just talk a lot of politics, so I was quite happy that he talked about his experiences growing up.

"I think the boys typically think that what is 'right' is what the general population, what the majority chooses."

"But I think Bill English showed us that being an MP you can have your own voice and your own opinion and that doesn't necessarily have to be the majority's view."

English spoke about going to a catholic school and how a marist education gives the boys, in his opinion, a good set of values to start life with.

He told them about his upbringing in Southland, the fact he couldn't get a job with his English literature degree and how he fell into politics at 28 years old.

He mentioned his views on euthanasia and abortion and that sometimes political decisions aren't popular, but they're necessary.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• Image: facebook.com

English is an old boy of St Pat's Silverstream, where he was a boarder and became head boy.

English said it was a privilege to accept the award alongside McGuinness, "who's done so much for the St Pat's and Wellington communities".

McGuinness, a construction supremo with the Wellington building firm LT McGuinness and old boy of St Pat's Town, was "very pleased" to receive the award.

By naming two former students as joint "old boys of the year" the Association has broken with long tradition.

Previous winners of the award have included Pike River Coal campaigner Bernie Monk, former Police Association president Steve Hinds, actor Jim Moriarty, trade unionist John Ryall, former All Black and David Bain campaigner Joe Karam, former Lower Hutt mayor Sir John Kennedy-Good, and Cardinal Tom Williams.

Easton, who's recently published a user's guide to economic inequality, says inequality is difficult to measure.

One indicator might show it going up while another has it coming down or staying the same, 'so it's easy to choose the indicator you want'.

But, he says, all the indicators are that New Zealand suffered a sharp rise in inequality as a result of policy changes to tax rates and benefits 30 years ago and is now in the company of those OECD countries with the biggest gap between rich and poor.

'The simple way to put this is that in the 1980s we were in the bottom half of the OECD as far as inequality was concerned. Those above us had greater inequality.

'By the mid-1990s we were in the top half — among the most unequal parts of the OECD — and it's still like that.' Continue reading.

Cecily McNeill has edited Wel-Com, the newspaper for the Wellington and Palmerston North dioceses, for the past eight years, and worked as a radio journalist for 20 years.

Source: Eureka Street

Image: mimosaplanet.com

The report claims Pacific people now have the highest unemployment, the lowest incomes and a widening income gap that could mean they're left behind when the economy recovers.

The average Pacifican income is $479 a week compared with $721 for non-Pacific adults, which represents an increase of just $2 in five years for Pacific adults, compared with $54 for everyone else.

One of the report's authors, Ronji Tanielu, says the huge income gap and painfully slow growth in pay affects everything from housing, to problem debt and putting food on the table.

Mr Tanielu says there's been a big spike in demand from Pacific families for Salvation Army food parcels, budgeting advice and drug and alcohol addiction services.

Speaking with CathNews, Parish priest of Otara, Auckland, Fr Brian Prendeville SM, agrees with the report's findings.

Fr Prendeville says he is noticing an escalating demand on the parish's social outreach programmes.

"We've a lot going on in the parish to help, and we've noticed a marked increase in the call on our family services, food parcels and counseling.

"Our parish branch of St Vincent de Paul is also reporting increased activity," Fr Prendeville said.

Fr Prendeville said that some have used the excuse of the economic recession to benefit themselves.

"Pacificans need to be paid a just and comparable wage", he said.

It is a story echoed by the Auckland Diocese's Catholic Caring Foundation.

Clare Wade, General Manager says that this year the Foundation received a record level of grant applications and it has a huge challenge allocating $650,000 towards families in chronic hardship.

"We have seen a massive jump in requests for help with food-parcels, budget advice, emergency housing and problem gambling.

"Pacific Island families without homes or incomes are the group most affected by poverty in Auckland," Wade said.

Salvation Army urges NZ Government action

The Salvation Army is urging the Government to revive its Pacific Wave unit of work brokers and extend Pacific youth training schemes.

The report's authors say that unless something is done to reduce unemployment and lift Pacifican income, Pacificans will need more handouts and debt to loan sharks will only get worse.

Finance Minister Bill English says the Budget 2013 will help the most vulnerable people in society "who the Government has served very poorly in the past".

Mr English told TVNZ's Q+A programme, Sunday, "Closing that gap is a pretty big challenge."

Pope urges Catholics to seek out those needing help

Speaking, Sunday, from the steps of St Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis lamented a world where homelessness and hunger was not news.

"If we step outside of ourselves, we will find poverty," he said, repeating his call for Catholics to do more to seek out those on the fringes of society who need help the most.

"We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most)," he said.

Sources

• Radio New Zealand
• NZ Herald
• Huffington Post
• Image: Bay of Plenty Times

For many parents and caregivers around the country, keeping their children adequately warm, fed and healthy is a daily struggle. You don't have to be a beneficiary to know that times are really testing; we are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. I cannot comprehend what the Great Depression was like, but I will admit that my spouse and I find it quite difficult to cover all the bills and we will always think twice about visiting the doctor, simply because we too are feeling the financial crunch. There is no doubt that people around the country are working harder for longer and making tough choices. Some of you might remember Finance Minister Bill English's closing statement as he delivered the 2012 budget "New Zealanders have shown great resilience through challenging times, budget 2012 supports their aspirations for a brighter future." I certainly do not see much hope in that budget; in fact many of us, particularly families, are in despair.

So, where does that leave our most vulnerable? My heart breaks at the thought that so many children go without a meal most days or that their parents cannot afford the winter uniform because it costs a considerable amount. What makes me really angry is that we all know this; there have been countless reports and documentaries emphasising this issue. I personally am tired of governments talking about what they are going to do to tackle this issue. The reality is that an increasing number of children are going hungry, living in cold housing and suffering from preventable diseases. Unfortunately, a significant number of these children will grow up into dysfunctional adults, unless we do something about it. This is a serious issue, an ethical and moral issue that needs a government and you and I to be urgently proactive about change. It's time to turn the tables. Our children need us to do the little things that bring hope and a momentum for change.

We are, after all, raising the next generation of New Zealanders.

• Jennifer Angela Marie Navarro Martinez, is a New Zealand born Philipino who was raised in central Auckland in a typical working class family of the late 80's and early 90's. For the last 8 years she has worked in youth development for The Logos Project. She lives with her partner Ben, and 3-year-old daughter Micah Marcella, and family member Samantha.