For generations, people have come to New Zealand in search of the Kiwi dream.
It is about having a home, a job and a better life for your children.
It is about feeling safe and a good environment to live in.
But for many, this dream is under threat.
Unemployment in the Asian community has gone beyond 8%, and because people are not spending, shopkeepers in the Indian community tell me this is the toughest period that they have experienced.
New Zealand has a good future but we need plans in place to promote growth, well-paid jobs and higher living standards.
As a country, we have to pay our way in the world by saving and investing more, promoting a smart economy and boosting exports.
It is hard to see how these things will be achieved by what was in this year’s Budget.
There is no growth strategy, nothing to promote skills and little to compensate for savage cuts last year in research and development for a smarter, value-added economy.
Income tax was cut, but most low and middle-income earners will pay for their own cuts through the increase in GST.
The Government’s own estimates are for rising prices of up to 6%.
It is hard to see how pushing prices up will help either growth or people struggling to make ends meet.
Rising costs for almost everything we buy, including power, rates, health costs and ACC levies, will leave most people worse off.
We want a highly skilled and well-educated population.
But at one end, the cost of pre-school will go up by as much as $30 a child per week because of cuts in government support and at the other, thousands of students will be denied entry to university and polytechnics because the Government will not fund places for them.
Education is not simply a cost. It is an investment in our future.
And even though crime rose last year by record levels (over 9% for violent crime), police numbers in eight out of 12 police districts are being cut with increased numbers in only two districts.
New Zealand can become a great country in which to live, but the Government needs a plan to create a stronger economy and a commitment to looking after all New Zealanders, not just the few at the top.
Phil Goff is Leader of the Opposition and elected Member of Parliament from Mt Roskill in Auckland. The above article is exclusive to Indian Newslink ©
