The Salvation of New Zealand?

The Salvation Army in New Zealand said in its report, The Growing Divide they feared "a permanent and dangerous fracture" in society if policymakers continued to concentrate wealth and influence in the hands of a privileged few. A growing proportion of the population is increasingly being sidelined from mainstream economic and social life. The report says one in three Maori children is likely to live in relative poverty, compared with one in four Pacific children and one in six Pakeha children. Over the past five years, it says, reported assaults on children have risen by 152 per cent and reported cases of child neglect have doubled.

 With almost 300,000 people jobless and 150,000 others moving to Australia since 2007, alarm bells should be ringing, Major Roberts said. Instead the Government remained focused on reducing its deficit and opposed to increasing taxes.

The housing market was increasingly about the "haves" and "have nots", the Salvation Army said.