27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year

One in four Kiwi children live in households where food runs out often or sometimes. Photo: Getty Images

Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20:

1. The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp rises in food poverty, GP waiting times, mental health issues and obesity in deprived areas since 2022/23.

2. In my view: Worsening and debilitating food, housing & energy poverty are the nation’s scourges, not public debt or red tape. GDP growth alone won’t fix them.

3. Scoop: An advisory group picked 36 mines for the Fast-track list in one three-hour meeting, The Post’s Tom Pullar-Strecker reports this morning.

4. Deep-dive: Aaron Smale has written a compelling North & South feature on the intergenerational effects of solitary confinement.

5. Solutions: Tom Blessen’s episode of The Detail on Newsroom/RNZ today about migrant exploitation is essential listening.

6. Editorial Opinion: The usually far-from-liberal ODT-$$$ published a scathing editorial this morning about the PM’s ‘Pointless and Polarising politics.”

(There is more detail, analysis and links to documents below the paywall fold and in the podcast above for paying subscribers. If we get over 100 likes we’ll open it up for public reading, listening and sharing.)

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1. The Lead: Poverty worsens in Health Survey