Rich List Prompts Questions

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Reading the release of the latest "rich list" prompted me into asking a few questions in the form of a letter:

The Editor
The Southland Times

Dear Sir

If New Zealand’s rich list of those with a personal wealth of over $50 million is growing, why are most New Zealanders earning less than $28,000 a year?

Why have the rich enjoyed an 18% average growth of their wealth when most of us have seen a reduction of our disposable incomes?

How can one man have $2 billion, largely from investing in Southland dairy farms, yet the government can only find $15 million to invest in protecting our rivers from farming effluent?

Why does the government insist that the tax cuts for the wealthy are justified when many of those wealthy are expressing concern at the inequities of income and would be prepared to pay more?

If almost half of New Zealand wage earners need financial support from the government to survive on their incomes, are we not subsidising business profits and the incomes of the wealthy?

Given that 151 New Zealanders have a combined wealth of around $45 billion why is it that 100,000 of our children live in poverty?

Why is New Zealand one of the most inequitable countries in the OECD and why are many New Zealanders still shifting to Australia?

Yours sincerely...


It was interesting to note that new rich lister, Phillip Mills, sees that the future is in "clean technology"!

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Given that 151 New Zealanders have a combined wealth of around $45 billion why is it that 100,000 of our children live in poverty?"

Because they have irresponsible parents who waste the money given to them as government handouts. Look to the cause of the problem, redistributing wealth will never ever in itself deal with the real cause.
July 29, 2011 at 6:08 PM
Dave Kennedy said…
I'm sure you could find some parents that budget badly, Anonymous, but if you talk to budgeting services, food banks and the likes of the Salvation Army you would find that most families just can't earn enough even for the basics. The median wage in this country is only $27,000 and the median household income is $35,000, so that a huge number earn even less. It is not a just a case of redistribution it is about paying people a living wage so that they can support their children properly. New Zealand has one of the worst records in the OECD for child safety and health and I can't believe it is just because New Zealand is just a nation of incredibly bad parents.
July 29, 2011 at 10:57 PM
robertguyton said…
Anonymous is an ideologue bsprout. It's generous of you to respond to him in such a reasonable way, but his/her mind is set already. He/she loathes bludgers, I'm bound!
July 30, 2011 at 4:59 PM
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