They have already met with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and on 10 October met with Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and several senior members of the Labour Party.

Specific concerns

The ethnic leaders told Hipkins and his cohorts they are particularly concerned about immigration, health inequalities and crime policies.

"We had a good opportunity to discuss some of the priority immigration issues impacting our collective ethnic and faith communities" said Daljit Singh, representing the Sikh associations in New Zealand.

Another leader at the meeting said hate crimes against ethnic and faith communities had increased.

"The changes recommended by Royal Commission on 15 March have yet to be completed and this is important for all our communities" Wellington Indian Association President Manisha Morar said.

"There are significant lessons learned which have not yet been implemented, especially in the area of hate speech and hate crime."

Data paints an ugly picture

New Zealand Police data shows that almost three-quarters of all hate crime offences reported since 2020 were motivated by race or ethnicity.

Their records show that between 1 January 2020 and 30 June, 19,589 hate-motivated offences were reported to police, with 14,285 - or 73 percent - being motivated by the victim's race or ethnicity.

Additionally, 1563 offences were based on the victim's sexual orientation. Another 1069 were related to religion or faith.

Possible solutions

Paul Patel of the Indian Central Association and Anwar Ghani from the Federation of Islamic Associations voiced concern over rising crime.

Community-led crime prevention efforts are needed urgently, they said.

The New Zealand Chinese Association is also concerned that ethic communities are not suitably catered for.

Richard Leung and Debbie Chen told Hipkins that health disparities negatively affect ethnic communities. Community-led solutions are crucial to address these challenges, they said.

That call was underlined by Gregory Fortuin of the African Leaders Group.

"We also need to have effective and on-going engagement to uplift our communities" Fortuin said.

Robert Hunt, chair of the New Zealand Buddhist Council, says the country's education system should better reflect New Zealand's ethnic diversity.

Point taken

"It was excellent to meet with representatives from our many ethnic and faith communities to discuss their priorities and the issues that we can work through alongside each other" Chris Hipkins said on social media after the meeting.

"It's important that the voices of ethnic communities are heard and embedded into the decisions we make to take our country forward, as we prepare to be the next government."

Source

• RNZ

Shamima Ali, of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, said child rape is rife and rampant in many parts of the Pacific.

"But as far as trafficking is concerned, it should be of concern even if there's a little bit of it left happening," she told Pacific Mornings' Levi Matautia-Morgan. Read more

The UN Human Rights Council has reported the human rights situation in West Papua has deteriorated, citing reports of torture and mass displacement.

"We know the violence that West Papuans are having to endure is getting increasingly worse," Green Party spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said at a Morning Star flag raising ceremony in Auckland on Friday. Read more

One unusual aspect of the move is that climate funding is supposed to be ring-fenced solely for climate policies, but the savings will instead be returned to the general coffers.

Another unusual aspect is Minister for Climate Change James Shaw wasn't aware it would be happening. He told Newsroom he knew the Government was doing a savings exercise and evaluated a couple of policies he was responsible for, which didn't get cut. He was also briefed on a $10m cut to a waste policy. Read more

In 2004, CPAG explained what was so wrong in a publication called Cut Price Kids and has been campaigning to fix WFF ever since.

After the WEAG report in 2018, the Government began its widely anticipated WFF review. We participated in good faith along with many other NGOs. Our recommendations are found here.

The main part of the WFF is the per child per week Family Tax Credit that goes to all caregiver in low-income families on the same basis. This is the best tool to ensure income adequacy.

The second component, confusingly named the ‘In Work Tax Credit ' is added to the Family Tax Credit weekly payment, but only when parents are eligible on paid work criteria.

While fixed hours of work no longer have to be met, if there is any benefit or part benefit paid, then the children of those parents cannot have any of the In Work Tax Credit.

As a result about 200,000 of the worst-off children in New Zealand miss out on a substantial part of WFF - at least $72.50 a week.

The reasoning has been that paid work is the only way out of poverty and therefore their parents need an incentive to work.

In the review of WFF, cabinet approved as the starting point these two key deeply contradictory objectives:

• to make work pay by supporting families with dependent children, so that they are rewarded for their work effort
• to ensure income adequacy, with a focus on low and middle-income families with dependent children to address issues of poverty, especially child poverty

Parents are not on benefits for fun.

Their children are four times more likely than other children to live in poverty — that means going without the basics … not enough money after rent to pay for school uniforms, and the power bill let alone nutritious food.

Many of these families are sole parents, many have disabled children, or there is sickness in the family, few job opportunities and lack support of all kinds.

Even if they manage a part-time job, their part benefit makes their children ineligible for the In Work Tax Credit.

When a payment to a caregiver is designed to be enough to address child poverty but it is withheld from the worst-off families who are on benefits to create a work incentive, the result is deeper child poverty not more parents off-benefit.

Phase one of the WFF review decided to focus on the second objective, and in the 2022 budget, increases were announced to the Family Tax Credit.

This was largely a delayed inflation catch-up implemented from 1 April 2023, and was soon eroded in the cost of living crisis.

Most unfortunately, as part of the same package, low-income families in paid work lost their Working for Families more quickly as the rate of clawback (or abatement) rose from 25 percent to 27 percent for each dollar earned over the very low fixed threshold of $42,700.

So much for work incentives!

Thomas Coughlan had previously outlined in the NZ Herald how serious thought had been given pre-budget 2023 to fixing flaws in the WFF design. He reported that in the WFF review

"Anti-poverty groups said this tax credit "should be paid to all families and not just those who are off a benefit and in paid work".

"These stakeholders argued that the payment was discriminatory or unfair, particularly given children were unable to choose whether their parents were working.

"They also emphasised the need to value other contributions people make, such as caring for children or voluntary work,"

So now we have part two of the WFF review.

May be this is Labour's way of putting that tortuous review to bed.

They announced yesterday (13th August) that if elected the In Work Tax Credit will be increased by $25 a week from 1 April 2024 creating an even bigger gap between children in families on benefits and other low and middle income families in paid work.

The threshold stays fixed at $42,700 and there are no automatic indexation provisions. However, the threshold will rise to $50,000 by 2026, just in time for the next election. The rate of abatement stays at 27 percent.

The worst-off 200,000 children get nothing- they remain invisible and left further behind - Cut Price Kids indeed.

• Susan St John CNZM QSO is an economist from New Zealand. She is a lecturer at the University of Auckland and spokesperson for the Child Poverty Action Group. St John graduated with a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Auckland in 1979.
• First published in The Daily Blog. Republished with permission of the author.

Meanwhile, the Australian Government is urgently tightening its rules on kava use.

Last year, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) agreed to amend the status of kava in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

The amendment banned takeaway kava and tightened existing regulations on how it is prepared.

It came into effect immediately in Australia.

New Zealand held off, however as the Code didn't consider kava's cultural importance to the Pasifika community.

Australia then conducted a 12-month review of the Code. They were looking to see if further changes were needed, or if amendments should be reaffirmed or revoked.

In March, the Australian Government decided to keep the changes.

Kava's cultural importance

The New Zealand Government has confirmed it will not keep the proposed changes, with respect to kava's cultural use.

University of Waikato kava expert Dr Apo Aporosa is pleased.

As a Pacific person living in Aotearoa, the Government recognising kava's cultural significance is important, he said.

"Their consideration included recognition of kava's cultural importance to Pacific peoples as part of cultural practice and relational connection, together with kava use safety, continuing to classify kava as a ‘food' under the Food Safety Standards," he said.

Aporosa said it also meant the Government stood by its commitment as a signatory to the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It showed this by recognising the culture and practices of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa.

Alcohol alternative

The Government's decision also considered the increased use of kava by Maori, as part of their pre-migration culture, Aporoso said.

"This also supports and encourages Maori's use of kava as an alternative to alcohol. We know that kava does not cause 99 percent of the health and socio-cultural impacts caused by alcohol.

"This is also why it's important that Pacific people be given unfettered access to kava - we seek to limit alcohol harm in our community."

Aporosa has advised the Australian Government on kava safety since 2008.

It is sad that Pacific families across the Tasman were not considered when changes were made, he said.

"This has imposed additional barriers to kava access in Australia.

"Additionally, those barriers in Australia continue to prevent me from posting kava to my family or friends over there. However, I can post a box of Jack Daniel's.

"Go figure, particularly when you consider the disproportionate level of harm caused by alcohol when compared with kava."

Deputy director general of the Ministry for Primary Industries Vincent Arbuckle said last year's amendments were made under an urgent proposal.

"This is not the usual process for changes to Standards," he said. Under the FSANZ Act, urgent proposals were reserved for matters that were an urgent public health risk.

"The proposal meant that New Zealand's Pasifika community did not have sufficient opportunity to engage in a matter of significant cultural importance."

Food Safety Minister Meka Whaitiri said kava was a culturally significant beverage for the Pasifika community. Therefore the amendments would not be adopted in New Zealand on cultural grounds.

Source

• Stuff

Despite significant progress in banning some kinds of firearms and confiscating others, New Zealand still has no gun registry.

"We might be east of Australia geographically but we continue to be the Wild West when it comes to gun control," said Peter Garrick, the executive secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland.

"We have more than twice as many legally imported but unregistered guns as we have registered dogs. "We continue to import them on an industrial scale - 52,000 in 2018 alone - and allow them to be marketed aggressively, particularly in rural towns."

Garrick is accusing the government of dragging its feet over the matter as a gun register would not now be active until June 2023.

Making an oral submission to the Justice Select Committee on the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Bill, Garrick said New Zealand had twice as many guns per capita in circulation as Australia and more than five times that of the UK.

He told the Committee one of the reasons for this "dangerous situation in which we live is the lack of controls over the importation and commercial sale of guns." He also pointed to a legal loophole in the current legislation which lets purchasers on-sell their weapons without breaking the law.

He cited research by Professor Alexander Gillespie who showed - three years ago - how accountability, traceability and safety would be improved by introducing a comprehensive gun register - an essential next step following the Christchurch shootings.

Garrick said the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Bill may be well-intentioned but lacked credibility as a tool for solving the increasing use of firearms in violent situations.

He said the Commission wanted the Arms Act amended so that gun licences were issued only to people with a ‘genuine reason' to possess a firearm and that these be renewed every five years. He also wanted all licensed firearms owners to register their firearms within a year of the gun register going ‘live.'

There is also a strong argument for licensed firearms owners to be allowed to purchase only ammunition that is suitable for their registered firearms and that ammunition sales be recorded on the firearms registry.

Source

• Supplied - Justice and Peace Commission

The Independent Pharmac Review Panel's final report has not yet been released, though the Government has received it.

An interim report released last year found the strategy of the drug-buying agency disadvantaged Maori, Pasifika, disabled people and those with rare disorders. Other findings included an excessive focus on containing costs and "opaque" decision-making.

Little said at the time he expected to receive the final report by February 28.

Myeloma NZ chief executive Dr Ken Romeril​ said the report was being "buried".

"We know there are problems with Pharmac, we know there are problems with transparency and dialogue, and the report is very likely to be critical, so why aren't we allowed to see it?" Read more

In recent weeks, the Russia's Patriarch Kirill has used religious language to justify his support for Russia's military aggression.

Even Kirill's own supporters are looking elsewhere, says Dew.

"The invasion has created new ecumenical tensions. As many as 160 Russian Orthodox parishes around the world have sought to join other communions as a result."

Dew says New Zealand Church leaders, together with many others around the world, have written to Kirill expressing their "great concern about his religious justification for the war and asking him to use his influence in Moscow to bring it to an end".

Kirill's use of religious language to justify his support for Russia's military aggression is failing to impress Pope Francis who recently rejected the idea put by the Patriarch Kirill that Russia's Ukraine invasion is a "holy war".

During his Sunday address and blessing, Francis continued his implicit criticism of Russia, calling the conflict in Ukraine an unjustified "senseless massacre".

"The violent aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately not slowing down," he told about 30,000 people in St Peter's Square.

"It is a senseless massacre where every day slaughters and atrocities are being repeated," Francis said in his latest strong condemnation of the war, which has so far avoided mentioning Russia by name.

"There is no justification for this," he added.

Moscow says the action it launched on February 24 is a "special military operation" designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarise its neighbour and purge it what it sees as dangerous nationalists. Francis has already rejected that terminology.

"I beg all the players in the international community to truly commit themselves to stopping this repugnant war," the pope said, drawing loud cheers and applause from the crowd.

"Even this week missiles and bombs hit civilians, the elderly, children and pregnant mothers," he said.

Source

• Supplied
• Reuters

As reported recently by CathNews, church leaders met, March 11, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Housing Minister Megan Woods to discuss issues of mutual concern.

The churches' position papers have just been released.

"We seek tika me pono (truth and justice) to right wrongs in our history that continue to lead to disparities which see poorer health outcomes for Maori and Pasifika. We cannot be healthy unless all are healthy", the church leaders said.

Acknowledging the impact of COVID-19, the church leaders said the virus has exposed new forms of inequality and thrown new light on old and ongoing injustices.

"Many want to get back to ‘normal', but we don't want a ‘normality' that returns to an everyday life which is indifferent to the poor and to the environment, and just exposes us again to the next pandemic."

During the pandemic, church and state cooperation has ensured wide-ranging support - from connecting with kaumatua/isolated elderly people, finding accommodation, providing necessities, supporting migrant workers and temporary visa holders.

"We seek ongoing engagement in this regard," New Zealand's church leaders said.

Two issues — housing and welfare — "have been priorities for decades in these meetings of Church Leaders and Government, but remain urgent and pressing issues in the context of the pandemic."

COVID vaccinations

Confirming their support for vaccinations, the church leaders offered to:

• Contribute to public messaging about Covid-19 as an ethical choice for the common good.
• Support and encourage church members to be vaccinated.
• Provide access to church facilities as vaccination centres.

They asked for:

• Information about the vaccination priority settings for church workers like hospital chaplains.
• Clarity around the process of setting priorities for border entry for non-citizens and residents.
• Recognition that there are circumstances in which church workers are essential workers for immigration purposes.
• Recognition of family reunification as a priority when border restrictions can be relaxed.

Welfare, Income and Wellbeing

The church leaders said they want:

• To provide input into policy and programmes that support New Zealanders making significant permanent changes to work and careers because of Covid-19 outcomes, including retraining and psychosocial support.
• To work with Government and other agencies to provide access to psychosocial services for those affected by COVID-19 health or economic effects.
• Government to recognise the benefit levels do not meet basic needs and should be lifted.
• To continue the dialogue about addressing food insecurity.
• To encourage the Government to continue to push a wellbeing approach to better integrate social, economic and environmental dimensions to grow inter-generational wellbeing and resilience.

Housing

The church leaders would like to see:

• A long-term balanced policy approach to the housing crisis is needed. The pressure is building as homeownership reduces, and rent increases.
• The Government partnering more and sharing development investments with community housing providers.
• The Government committing to a balanced tenure policy of social housing, secure renting and affordable homeownership, with access for lower-income households.
• Priority access for Maori and Pasifika households.
• Housing support assistance reviewed so lower-income households are realistically better off and can afford essential housing costs.

Source

• Church Leaders meet with PM and Ministers (PDF)
• Image: BBC

The event celebrates the value of life and the unborn child and offers a peaceful protest against New Zealand's abortion laws.

"Forty-three years ago, Parliament passed a law that said not all unborn children have a right to life," organisers say.

"Under that law more than half a million pre-born children were aborted.

"Abortion not only takes the life of a human being, it wounds women physically, emotionally, and spiritually; and families are negatively affected.

"New Zealanders love both women and their unborn children, and we want the law to reflect that love."

Among the organisations at the March for Life was Gianna's Choice Mobile Life Centre, a Family Life International programme.

Its founder/director spoke of the pro-life movement's willingness to serve and support mothers when they most need help.

"When people see the Centre, a whole new world of possibilities of reaching abortion-vulnerable women is opened up for them," said Colleen Bayer.

Another organisation at the march was South Auckland's ProLove. In the few months since it was founded, ProLove says it has distributed 500 boxes of goods to mothers and babies in need the local community.

Former National List MP Agnes Loheni spoke when the March reached parliament grounds.

Loheni, who sat on the Abortion Legislation Committee, said although the State will protect some vulnerable, pre-born babies are not included.

"History ... will not judge the passing of this Abortion Legislation kindly."

The coming restrictions on speech about abortion are concerning, Loheni said.

It "is only a short jump from banning speech outside an abortion clinic to banning speech that is anti-abortion," she said.

Pro-life politician, Simon O'Connor, acknowledges the difficult decision made by women who have had an abortion.

"To those mums ... we stand with you, we love you, we support you," he stated.

He challenged fathers who pressure women into abortion "to love them and to love your child ...".

Recognizing "that much death has been legislated" this year, he encouraged the crowd to: "Have those conversations ... In a few years' time we will ... celebrate that life has once more returned to Aotearoa."

A message delivered via video by Lila Rose, the founder and director of Live Action, an educational and activist pro-life group in the United States was broadcast to the crowd.

There are three important tasks to continue with now the March for Life has been held, she said: education, involvement and prayer.

"The movement isn't just today," she stated. "The movement is throughout the year until we reach victory, which is the complete ending of abortion and the rebuilding of a culture of life."

A small group of counter protestors were also present during the event.

They followed the March for Life from Civic Square to Parliament where they had booked lawn space.

Here, March attendees were able to positively interact with some of the protestors, who were generally young.

Source

• Family Life International
• Image: Scoop