Phoney Campaign in Northland Ignores Hungry Schoolchildren
new-zealand-first-party
Wed Jun 08 2016 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Phoney Campaign in Northland Ignores Hungry Schoolchildren
Wednesday, 8 June 2016, 12:00 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party
Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
8 JUNE 2016
National’s Phoney PR Campaign in Northland Ignores Hungry School Children
New Zealand First is calling on the government to start doing something about the overwhelming problem of hungry children in Northland.
“When Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye visited Northland College in Kaikohe to mark the start of a building upgrade she said it would be a beautiful place and there would be ‘an explosion of education here’,” says Northland MP and New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“That’s great but sadly there is another explosion happening at Northland College – the number of hungry students turning up for classes.
“The day before Ms Kaye flicked the switch for concrete to be poured more than 70 students were fed at Northland College through a volunteer effort.
“Central government in Wellington is ignoring the most pressing problems for towns like Kaikohe – lack of jobs and families living in poverty.”
Mr Peters also says it’s a pity Ms Kaye did not go to nearby Tautoro Primary School where half the pupils have to be fed every day.
“The school principal says when she took the job four years ago she thought it was a parenting issue but realises now children are simply not getting enough to eat at home because there is not enough money.
“Four years ago 15-20 children needed feeding at school now and then – now 35-45 need feeding every day – out of a roll of 75 pupils.
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“Even the parents who have jobs don’t have enough money to provide for their children because of the low wages in the area.
“Tautoro School was a Decile 1B school but that has been changed to Decile1C – which means it will receive $9,000 less in government funding. The change has never been explained.”
Mr Peters says the National Party is trying to win back hearts, minds and votes in Northland with a staged public relations campaign whilst doing next to nothing for hungry children and poor families.
“Politicians show how out of touch they are when they use the term ‘child poverty’ – it’s not child poverty it is family poverty. One would hope they’d understand the sadness of this situation,” says Mr Peters.
Explosion - Associate Minister of Education
ENDS
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