August 28, 2014
Child poverty dominates campaign trail
Internet Mana leader Hone Harawira says child poverty should be the main issue of the election campaign.
Mr Harawira says as he campaigns around his Te Tai Tokerau electorate he constantly comes across people who are struggling to make a living for their families, or who are having problems with state agencies like Work and Income.
He says the fact 300,000 children are living in poverty is an indictment on current policies.
"As a nation we have no right to go chasing the baubles on the international stage. Like an Americas cup, like a seat on the United Nations Security Council, like a TPPA deal, like a spy deal with the Americans. We don't have a right to do any of that until such time as we have tidied up our backyard," he says.
Mr Harawira says Mana's policy of 10,000 new state houses a year has forced Labour to come up with a similar policy, so its influence has already been felt on the campaign.
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