First burst of hope of the year

You may have noticed that our monthly Dose of Hope newsletter isn’t exactly monthly. In fact, in each of the past 2 years, we’ve only sent out 5 of them. That’s because our community tells us they don’t want to be swamped with emails. So if we have other things to send widely in a given month (like our annual report in Jan, our survey in Feb, or the survey report back in March), we skip the newsletter.

We also know that lots of you read our emails on your mobile devices — on the run. So short and sweet is better than long and laboured (it’s just that sometimes there’s so much to say!). So we’ve been giving some thought to what purpose our newsletter serves, and we decided primarily it’s about building community. We want to continue to feed you hope, but in short bursts rather than big doses, focussing on doing so in ways, and about topics that matter to you.

ActionStation is a people-powered organisation that platforms on a wide range of issues. Not all of them matter to all of our members. So we’re going to make it easier for you to jump to the content that you care about by including a contents list up front.

You’ve also told us you like to hear more about what we do, and about our team. So from time to time we’ll continue to include a spotlight section, where you can get to know not just our team, but also other members of the ActionStation community.

2023 is going to be a big year. With an election scheduled, there’ll be no shortage of things to report on. And no shortage of opportunities to get involved. Our team will be campaigning hard to make sure all political parties know what matters to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. Together we can make ourselves heard!

So… here’s your first little burst of hope for this year! Read on to learn more about how the ActionStation community has come together so far this year in ways that bring hope where it’s most needed:

• Fighting budget cuts to our Citizens Advice Bureaus
• Overwhelming support for dental for all
• Call to wipe debt owed to MSD

🛟 Saving the future of our CAB’s 🛟

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a place where anyone, no matter where they are in life, can come to ask for free legal advice and assistance. In the last year volunteers at CAB have helped over 160,000 people. The Auckland Council’s intention to cut their funding for their 2023/2024 Annual budget came as a shock, especially since the timing was right after the Northland flooding and cyclone Gabrielle, when people in the community needed the help of the CAB’s more than ever.

“That remarkable community spirit often comes to the fore in times of tragedy. But it’s not hard to find in ordinary times too. It is ever-present at the local Citizens Advice Bureau, a perfect embodiment of the principle: local volunteers helping local help-seekers with local problems.” Devika Dhir Newsroom

The amazing people behind CAB have taken action into their own hands and created a campaign to protest the council’s funding cuts. Thankfully since the launch of the petition more than 20,000 people have signed and showed their support. 🎉

Again, we can see how Auckland is coming together and fighting for what they believe is needed in their communities. Because who knows better what is good for them than the people themselves?

In that vein it’s been great to see another group of concerned Aucklanders step up to oppose these same budget cuts that threaten the CAB. Shout out to a better budget for Auckland (ABBA) who have proposed an alternative and better budget for Auckland🔥

If you would like to support CAB here are some ways to do it!

• Sign the Petition
• Share it on Facebook/Twitter
• Or simply tell your friends and family about it!

🫶 Overwhelming support for dental for all 🫶

Dental For All — a campaign supported by medical professionals, unions, community groups, and social service providers including the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Auckland City Mission, New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation, Auckland Action Against Poverty, and ActionStation, has recently demonstrated not only wide support but also great need for free dental care in Aotearoa.

Polling released on World Oral Health Day (Monday 20th March) shows that:

• 3 in 4 people (74%) agreed that the Government should fund adult access to dental care as it does for children.
• 7 in 10 (72%) of people surveyed had put off going to the dentist because they were worried about how much it would cost. Women were more likely to have put off going to the dentist (81%) than men (63%).
• 1 in 3 (34%) of people surveyed said it had been longer than two years since their last visit.

Since launching a petition on World Oral Health Day, we have seen extreme growth behind it. 10,000 people signed the petition in just three days, and since then it has grown to more than 14,500 people.🔥🔥🔥

The polling and the petition follow the release of the “Tooth be Told” report in November last year that found 40% of people in Aotearoa can’t afford dental care.

It’s the only aspect of our health where people are expected to pay the full cost in the private market and we believe it is simply not sensible or practical to have so many people unable to access oral health care.

This election year, we want to continue demonstrating that free dental needs to be a priority for political parties.

• Sign the petition to join us

🪙 Call to Wipe Debt owed to MSD 👛

On 27th February, the Fairer Future collaboration launched their Lifting the Weight report on experiences of debt, addressed to the Ministry of Social Development. The report calls for debt owed to the Ministry to be wiped, highlighting the stress and suffering caused to people in vulnerable situations by the burden of debt repayments. The research shows that people on income support are being pushed into debt most often in two ways:

• When they seek support to cover the basics — like dental care, rent, and unexpected costs like car repairs.
• When they’re unfairly pushed into debt when the Ministry makes overpayments — often due to MSD’s own mistakes, miscommunication, delays, or complexity within the system, and commonly without people even knowing they’ve been overpaid.

Here is an excerpt from Sylvie’s story, from the report:

“Every year, when my vehicle needed repairs and when my son needed his uniforms, I got into debt. My son needed a sleep apnea machine and that added to our costs. We had to pay $5,000 for that machine. Borrowing $5,000 means $10,000 now on the interest we were paying. It was what everyone talks about: just this cycle of debt. My bank wouldn’t touch me because I was on a benefit, and when WINZ wouldn’t help with money, I had to go to lenders charging high interest rates.”

Carmel Sepuloni, the Minister for Social Development, said there is ongoing work on debt to Government. The minister responsible for that work is Dr Deborah Russell. The release of the Lifting the Weight report was timely as consultation on a proposed framework for addressing debt owed to Government began in March. The consultation period is open until 6 April after which officials will report back to the joint Ministers*. The launch received extensive media coverage, and the call to wipe debt owed to the Ministry has been endorsed by the Greens, Te Pāti Māori, and The Opportunities Party.

The event was also a chance to celebrate those who made the decision to come forward with their stories, without whom this piece of work would not exist. ⚡

While the stories that make up the report are individual, they also help us make sense of what is a collective and systemic issue. It’s people that create systems, which means that it’s the people that have the power to change them. Kia kaha whānau mā!

Wiping MSD debt is one of the seven steps for a fairer future. If you’d like to add your voice to the call for seven steps towards a fairer future for all,

• Sign the Petition
• Share it on Facebook
• And read the report and all 7 stories here!

That’s all for now, we’ll be in touch again soon with more bursts of hope!

*Newshub 27/2/2023 https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/02/anti-poverty-groups-call-for-government-to-wipe-kiwis-debt-to-ministry-of-social-development.amp.html