Is New Zealand a great place to grow up?
There are two answers to that question, debated by politicians and young people at an event organised by UNICEF at Parliament last night.
The moot of UNICEF NZ's Youth vs MPs Election Debate Photo: UNICEF NZ
On the one hand, our quality of life is among the best in the world. But in light of high levels of child poverty, it’s difficult to argue that New Zealand is a great place for all children.
Nonetheless, National MP Simon O’Connor was one of three politicians assigned that very task. He referenced government investment in education, appealed to the audience of mostly 20-somethings with an Aristotle quote, and said we took New Zealand’s “stability, peace and prosperity” for granted: “There is no perfect place, there is no utopia, but we can aim for it.”
Arguing against the moot, Wellington City Youth Councillor Bing-Ying Lou, 21, pointed out that with 285,000 children living in poverty, “not every child is equal, or has access to the same opportunities”. She said the failure of successive governments to lead on the issue meant New Zealand now ranked lowest of OECD countries for children’s wellbeing.
O’Connor’s teammates Andrew Little of Labour and the Greens co-leader Metiria Turei were put in the awkward situation of having to argue against the premise of a lot of their policies, but handled it adroitly – which is to say, with a whole heap of sarcasm. “New Zealand is such a great place to be a child some people don’t want to stop,” said Andrew Little. “That’s why we have parliament.”
“There is no such thing in this country as ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ people … children are at the heart of every decision this government makes,” said Ms Turei, much to the amusement of her colleague Jan Logie in the front row.
“Metiria’s going to remove her tongue from her cheek now,” remarked adjudicator Linda Clark as Ms Turei sat down.
UNICEF NZ Youth Ambassador Ruby Sands, 19, said New Zealand was failing to meet its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it ratified in 1993. She made the point that child poverty could not be only be discussed in terms of material deprivation when it was so closely linked to health problems – many of which, like bronchitis and rheumatic fever, have ongoing effects – and abuse and neglect.
Rawinia Thompson, 19, of Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Assocation, called out Little for his description of New Zealand as an “oasis of peace” in a “world gripped by war”, arguing that comparing the situation here to that in other countries – especially those that aren’t really comparable – was a bit of a cop-out.
Watch the debate in full here: