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MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Ed Said - A matter of priorities I know that ‘keep your own house in order’ and ‘charity begins at home’ are rather hackneyed cliché’s but are generally true when it comes to deeds of benevolence and that’s certainly not to frown on benevolence or voluntary good deeds of any kind. However my attention was roused this week by the plight of boat people, refugees or what-ever name we choose to give those seeking refuge from African, North African or Asian oppression and who throw them-selves literally to the fate of the sea in a desperate attempt to find safety and sanctity.
Whatever party is in government, they are roundly opposed by every other party for whatever measures they may take on any aspect of governance. There is no debate or negotiation on a potential good idea, simply argument against. Last week National was roundly criticised by all and sundry for not increasing our annual refugee intake from 750, plus immediate families, which can overall run to thousands. “It wouldn’t cost very much,” said Green Party co-leader Matiria Turei. She is correct
although ‘not very much’ is very much sub-jective. It’s also a fact that any other coun-try in the world the size of New Zealand is probably home to 15-20 million people. I believe New Zealand could probably handle that number but there would need to be some significant changes. Getting back to the cliché’s, statistically around 80 percent of the refugee males of working age are not in full time employ-ment which means they are further sup-ported by the Government (taxpayer) and many, on receiving sanctuary in the safety of our shores, are then not prepared to inte-grate which often leads to the tail wagging the dog. We have people still living in cardboard boxes and sub-standard accommodation four years after the Christchurch earth-quake. The state housing system is a mess. We are told we have many thousands of starving or underfed children which we can’t seem to take care of. And by the Government’s admission we are home to sev-eral thousand overstayers, mainly in South Auckland, that simply continue to live in our midst creating overcrowding situations the results of which are poor health result-ing in doctor and hospital treat ments again paid by the taxpayer. Immigration authori-ties and police both turn a blind eye, having ‘more important’ issues to deal with. Then, the further north you go in New Zealand, the worse the unemployment situation.
There is no denying that the regimes from which the boat people are escaping are horrendous but to push off in an over-crowded boat headed for who-knows-where puts us in an invidious situation were numbers to arrive here in their thousands. We can all do with bringing a little hu-mility into our lives helping those less for-tunate from time to time, but I’m with the Government on this one though if char-ity really does begin at home we could do more to get our own house in order first. It’s long overdue. Just my opinion. Rob |
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