Those evidence based testimonies probably epitomised the opinions of those involved in the nationwide movement that lead to the election of the First Labour Government and the welfare reforms that followed. And subsequently, a greatful nation continued to re-elect Labour for successive terms until the public mood changed after the ill judged “Wharfies strike” in 1951.
While there was a change of government due as much as anything to the excesses of the communist members of the Labour Party, the bulk of the Kiwi population remained loyal to those politicians who promoted policies that had an even balance of progressive reform and social justice.
During the 50s and 60s New Zealand enjoyed a period of uninterrupted prosperity based on the export of virtually every ounce of agricultural based product we could produce.
It was a time when this country came as close as it will probably ever get to becoming the true egalitarian society. How different things are today.
I was one of the fortunate ones who grew up during this period of relatively evenly shared wealth but do have recollections of “Swaggers” (usually homeless men who spent their days walking the length and breath of this country, spending their nights under the stars or in a shed owned by a farmer who might also provide a meal in exchange for the odd job that needed doing around the house) turning up asking for food and / or shelter.
I mention those times and characters because, even though l have never experienced real poverty during my lifetime, I am able to appreciate the stress that comes with being unable to support a family.
At various times ever since arriving here to begin a farming career in my own right in 1980, our family has suffered from the economic downturns and climate events (floods and droughts) that are and always have been, an accepted part of farming life.
I am not blaming anybody for those experiences because in a free society it is our choice as to the career we adopt. However, l can report that, as a result of our choice, there have been times when l have wondered where the next meal would come from.
I know what it is like to write a cheque for $5 dollars to pay for bread and milk and wondering if it would bounce, not because there were insufficient funds but because it would push our account over the $200,000 overdraft limit.
Unfortunately, the welfare system that supported us during those times (albeit only with really basic hardship grants) has been abused to such an extent that many modern parents no longer feel any responsibility for the cost of bringing up the family they chose to create.
What I consider to be an outrage reached a climax recently with bleeding heart liberal teachers refusing to accept school lunches provided by the state because they didn’t like the 3 star menu.
I live in one of the lowest decile communities in the country and yet I drive one of the oldest vehicles on the road - a 2013 Holden Commodore with 200,000 kms on the clock. Believe me - when it comes to vehicle ownership, I am the odd one out in this town.
Due to the 2023 floods, we are just getting back to farming what is left of our original block having spent all our savings and a swag of borrowed money on a recovery programme that might just enable us to stay here for a wee while longer.
Again I say, these experiences are not anyone else’s fault. Perhaps I should have chosen a different career.
But what l find unacceptable in a country that professes to applaud personal endeavour - or used to - is this unsupportable trend amongst politicians of all persuasions to absolve parents of responsibilities due to their own actions.
When I see late model vehicles parked outside the local pub while the kids of those patrons roam unsupervised, creating havoc throughout the community, I weep for this country.
Surely we are better than this but my guess is that it will take a revolution before rational heads prevail in the corridors of power.
In the meantime, who wants to join me at the barricades?
I would be happy to shout you lunch - that’s if there are any pies left after the school bell rings at 3pm on weekdays. Who is paying for those afternoon snacks - surely not Mum or Dad?
Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.
11 comments:
Priorities Clive. We are of a similar vintage but chose not to pour money into the latest vehicles or try to keep up with the Jones’s. We taught our kids to be self sufficient, to attend school after a basic breakfast taking a cut lunch with them. Unfortunately we now have generations that weren’t taught and so the downward spiral continues. Successive Governments have created a victim mentality and no longer does personal responsibility seem to be promoted.
Within the local area I regularly cycle or dog walk are several very recent very flash multi storey Kianga Ora complexes and a KO pensioner village. As one who has never owned a vehicle less than 15 years old (but has explored near all NZ by car) I never cease to be amazed by the number and apparent quality of th cars which throng these establishments and surrounding streets.
Maori constantly clamour for equity, interpreted as meaning equality. But disproportionate numbers of non maori suffered finacially from natural disasters, drop in house prices, the 1987 and other share crashes, business failures etc. Maori do not seek equal distribution of reversal of circumstances.
Completely with you, same generation , brought up by honest, hard-working parents who had learned through the depression to make and mend. The school lunch debacle is nothing short of humiliating. Thank you Clive
The concept behind New Zealand's social welfare state is 90 years out of date.
It was sold as a reason to generations of Kiwis as to why NZ is a great country.
But those original reasons are now irrelevant and through the passage of time have morphed into lies.
It's made NZ weak, inefficient and wasteful.
We look back at the years of the first labour government as if NZ was some type of paradise on earth. School history classes, academics and the media make out it was NZ's golden age. What they don't tell us is that Savage and Fraser almost bankrupted the country with their excessive spending and it was WW II that saved our butt.
It is also incorrect to say the Waterfront Strike led to the downfall of the Labour government as National was elected in 49 and the strike happened in 51.
Apologies Anon 9.30.
I got that one wrong but Sid Holland’s government were the beneficiary of the the Wharfies’ ill judged strike. Had Labour still been in power when the strike occurred they would not have been able to withstand the pressure from the unions and would have been forced to capitulate to their demands.
Holland’s handling of the Wharfies strike had its parallel when Muldoon took on the “pommie” (Con Devitt) led Boilermakers Union who repeatedly held the BNZ to ransom over the building of its HO in Wellington.
Interesting to note that this unfortunate incident spelt the end of mostly steel framework being used in high rise construction
.
But most people would not want to go back to those halcyon years Clive refers to. Economic realities and expectations have changed.
Back then, the norm was a nuclear family where Dad went to work, Mum kept house, and the kids went to school to age 15 or 16 and then got jobs. The family lived in a house purchased courtesy of the State Advances Corp which capped repayments at 30% of income. Outside was a car bought second-hand that did them for many years. Because this vignette covered so many people - three quarters of the population perhaps? - there was the appearance of egalitarianism.
Now the second income is as essential as the first - pregnancy means financial ruin - but today's mortgages are unsustainable for many people even on two incomes while a rent-induced poverty cycle hits those below them. Success doesn't just mean a house but one with 2 bogs and various gizmos including heat pumps and extractor fans. A car needs to be near-new and is bought on HP. And of course we need that overseas holiday every couple of years.
Are people happier now than in our parents' (speaking as a 70-yo) day? I doubt it. But we wouldn't want to return to that world.
You appear to miss the point l make Barend.
It is not so much the egalitarian aspects which we pine for.
It is the sense of personal responsibility for our own creations that is lacking in modern society.
In fact this widespread dependence on the State for almost every aspect of living that is now ingrained in the current generation, will be the end of us as a free, independent nation .
Why do you appear happy with that disastrous situation? I thought you were better than that.
News to me that Muldoon took a tough stand against Devitt and the Boilermakers. At the time of Devitt’s death Karl de Fresne wrote this: “Ironically Muldoon, despite his tough guy image, never got on top of the union problem. Unions went on strike with impunity throughout his nine years in power, and no doubt contributed to the sick economy that Labour inherited in 1984.” Holland’s uncompromising stance on the Wharfie’s strike in 1951 was the direct opposite. He went to the country over it, and won an increased majority. It took the Lange Government to get on top of the union militancy that had plagued this country for years.
Clive, the "from the cradle to the grave" social security paradigm took root after WW2. Our (yours and mine) parents' generation expected the State to finance their housing through low-interest loans, to pay the medical bills, to pay for the education of their kids, to give them a living income after age 65. Americans call this 'socialism'.
Like all good ideas the paradigm became overapplied. Benefit bludgers such as teenage solo mothers should not be rewarded for having no sense of personal responsibility. But suggesting that the bludger lifestyle be targeted for elimination is political suicide.
If you want people to be responsible, you have to make it worth their while. I am all for long-term low-interest loans to buy a house as home owners tend to be far more responsible than long-term renters. The former group have much better stats for productivity, crime, delinquency, marriage/family breakup, education and health than the latter. All the downsides of people not having their own home cost the taxpayer a fortune. Hence I would strongly support the reintroduction of the SAC.
' An even balance of progressive reform and social balance' . As a self proclaimed expert of NZ literacy history I am not happy with the celebration of the beginnings of the progressive reform when referring in particular to education.. Our current Min. of Education believes the Fraser introduction of Progressive Ed. was a wonderful event yet for me this was the beginning of the very slow destruction of our excellent Traditional Liberal Education for which we were famous.
The seeds of destruction were planted back then in the 1950s when
concentrating on the basic 3Rs was gradually and deliberately replaced with using schools as a vehicle for indoctrination of socialism into school pupils. Being strong independent citizens with a social conscience and self responsibility has been replaced by poorly educated ones expecting state handouts and having a victim mentality.
We need to return to both traditional values and teaching methods as we used to have before progressivism took them away. Obviously a true welfare state needs these traditional values to exist and thrive while socialism desires pathetic victims dependent on the state.
One item since it is mentioned here -free lunches should be scrapped. Target , specifically the parents not supplying lunches investigate them and counsel them and give them food vouchers if necessary. Making a kid's school lunch should be home based. Not a socialist exercise. in virtue signaling. Incidentally butter chicken isn't particularly nutritious. What about a lentil/ pea vegetable stew/ soup with cheese and apple sticks?
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