Good Citizens make for Good Governance

There is a basic logic that democracy will benefit when more citizens participate. Nations with overall higher political participation also have better performing government.

Auckland Council has produced a draft 10-year Budget and Auckland Plan to 2050. During the month of March, we, the good citizens of Auckland, have the opportunity to have our say on Auckland’s future. The first Auckland Plan in 2012 included detailed objectives and targets, however things have changed a lot in our large city and this means that the 2012 plan needs to change if it is to provide direction and context for decision making. The draft 2050 Plan shows how Auckland is expected to grow and change of the next 30 years. We also have a lot of catching up to do in the areas of infrastructure and the environment which may necessitate targeted rates in addition to our normal rates.

We take democracy for granted but with it comes rights, privileges and responsibility. At first glance I could image it would be easy to argue these three terms are mutually exclusive. If we think about these words in the context of voting, a foundation of democracy, what is a privilege cannot be a right since rights are enjoyed by everyone, while a privilege is reserved for a select group. Likewise, it is impossible for us to take on the burden of citizen responsibility if we don’t have the right to vote in the first place. In a study conducted in the USA in 2006, most participants saw voting as a responsibility or as a privilege, more than a right.

Another hallmark of democracy is participation, and voting is an act of participation. Many observers lament the decline in voter turnout and view this trend as detrimental to the democratic process. In his book, ‘The Participation Gap’, Robert Putman examines evidence from the International Social Survey Programme which measured citizen participation in established democracies in 2004 and 2014. Whilst voter turnout is a worrying trend, the number and variety of ways that people can use to influence political outcomes have increased.

The expansion of resources and ways to participate makes it much easier for us to get involved in our democracy. Direct contact with political leaders has also increased. A good example of this is how members of our Franklin Local Board have set up stands at events such as A&P Shows and been there in person to discuss what is going on in the Franklin Community, and get your opinions. There is a basic logic that democracy will benefit when more citizens participate. Does government, local or national, function better if the public is more involved?

The Intelligence Unit of the Economist magazine measures the quality of governance (EUI Index). Nations with overall higher political participation also have better performing government. Nations that score highly on the EUI Index, such as Norway, New Zealand, Canada and Denmark, also have pretty high levels of citizen participation. Conversely, the four lowest levels of participation occur in the nations that are below average in the functioning of government. This supports the general logic that an attentive and involved public ensure the government is more responsive and effective. “Simply put” says Putman, “good citizens make for good democratic governance.”


The Auckland Council want to hear what you think about the draft plan so they can improve and finalise it. I urge you to be a good citizen and make your contribution to help ensure good democratic governance of our city of Auckland and local community of Franklin. You can have your say on our future by participating in the public consultation programme through the ‘Have Your Say Events’ and by providing feedback at akhaveyoursay.nz by 28^th March.

 

First published in the Franklin County News Tuesday 1^st March 2018

Impact of Child Poverty Damaging

Child poverty rates in New Zealand are above the average of other developed countries. 290,000 children – around 27% of Kiwi kids – are currently living in income poverty and it’s costing us dearly.

UNICEF defines child poverty as children being deprived of the material, spiritual and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive. This leaves them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society.

Each day, around 15% of children leave for school without having eaten breakfast. Around 20,000 children a year, mostly from low income families, will be admitted to hospital for respiratory illnesses and serious skin infections caused by poor housing and overcrowding.

Living in poverty can mean homelessness, not having access to healthy food, going to school hungry, or coming home to a cold damp house to sleep in a shared bed. It can mean missing out on activities like learning a musical instrument or playing sport, or even having a birthday party.

The effects of living in poverty, year after year, on children are cumulative.

For example young children growing up in poverty are more likely to have lower school achievement and impaired health and development. A child from a low income household has a 1.4 times higher risk of dying than a child from a wealthy household.

Poverty damages. It damages childhood, it damages life chances, and it damages us all in society.

As much as $10billion of public money is required every year to deal with the negative consequences of child poverty and around three quarters of that is avoidable.

Parents who are struggling to provide the basic necessities are often unable to spend much quality time with their children, leading to low self-esteem & lifelong difficulties forming strong relationships with others. It will have a negative impact on children’s emotional health.

47% of the children living below the poverty line, live in two parent families, with a range of educational qualifications. A post school qualification or degree does not protect families from being poor.

In spite of a rise in incomes, poverty has remained persistent, mostly due to increased housing costs eating into more of the family budget. A family earning $35,000 per year, paying rent of $404 a week, has $21,008 per year to pay for everything else life requires. If they are lucky they may get additional support from the accommodation supplement, although an income of $35,000 is over the limit for the accommodation or childcare supplement.

Since the 1980’s New Zealand’s income inequality has grown more than any other OECD nation. In 2016 New Zealanders voted (in the Mood of the Nation Poll) inequality and poverty as the most important National issues.

So maybe we should heed the words of Gabriela Mistral - a Chilean poet, diplomat, educator, humanist and Nobel Prize winner – “Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time their bones are being formed; their blood is being made; their mind is being developed. To them we cannot say tomorrow. Their name is today.”



Impact of Child Poverty Damaging
First published in the Franklin County News, page 9, on 1 March 2018