If the PM has time to strut his stuff on the catwalk how about a stroll through the food bank?
Wednesday 18 May 2011, 4:39PM
By Annette King
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It is increasingly obvious that John Key is becoming out of touch with the cost of living pressures faced by hardworking Kiwis, Labour’s Deputy Leader Annette King says.
“Every day, stories of the struggle to make ends meet are appearing in the media.
“Nearly 250 people responded on line to the Campbell Live series last week about a family’s cost of living struggles.
“One of them, Anya, and her husband are getting more and more worried about how they will manage. She works part time and her husband works fulltime for $48,000 a year.
“After bills and higher childcare costs they are left with $30 a week left over. It would take just an out-of-the-blue car repair bill or dental appointment to land them in a tough spot.
“In Parliament today I questioned John Key about when he last visited a food bank and his knowledge of the financial pressures on families, following his claim recently that ‘I regularly go out and see social services’.
“He was forced to admit he hasn’t visited a food bank in recent times, nor has he spoken to anyone organising food banks.
“If he was in touch with what was really going on he would understand the struggles facing growing numbers of families, which is the direct effect of his unfair and unaffordable tax cuts.
“While people know John Key’s deficit is growing at an alarming rate, with no real plan to address the looming crisis, they are increasingly asking why the Government is borrowing for tax cuts that overwhelmingly went to the top income earners at the same time that middle and low income Kiwis are told to tighten their belts.
“Did the Chief Executives of New Zealand’s 47 biggest companies who received pay rises of 14per centon average last year really need a tax cut of more than $500 a week on top of that?
“John Key laughed his way through Question Time, demeaning and belittling any questions that highlighted the plight of increasing numbers of Kiwis living on struggle street. It’s no laughing matter.”