Govt accused of not caring about families

Press, 13 March 1985, Page 26

Govt accused of not caring about families

PA Wellington The Government no longer seemed to care about the living standards of its traditional supporters, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, has said. “I have never seen a Labour Government that is so indifferent to the hurt that is going on in this society,” he told Parliament during a debate on private members’ notices of motion.

“Surely there are some in their ranks who have some feeling for the pain and suffering they are causing.” Mr Bolger said that with food prices, interest rates, rents, and power prices all rising, the New Zealand family was being “kicked about” by the Government. The Government should face the questions being asked in the country’s supermarkets and by homeowners having to refinance their mortgages. “These are real questions affecting real people,” Mr Bolger said. “What we want are answers relevant to the problems that are hurting in

homes up and down New Zealand.” It was time the Government looked at the problems in its own backyard and stopped “campaigning to change the world.” Mrs Judith Keall (Govt., Glenfield) said that although costs were increasing, the people of her electorate were prepared to accept them in the short term until the economy had recovered. Mr Neil Morrison (Socred, Pakuranga) said that he never imagined he would see the day when “thousands of New Zealanders are close to being the peasants of the South Pacific.” “But that is exactly what we are looking at now — a very shameful situation in a country which has always prided itself on having a fair system where everyone gets an equal chance,” he said. The financial stress being felt by some families was “excruciating.” He detailed several cases in his electorate.