Inequality talk on in Nelson
Bryan Bruce says social change takes time, but he’s hopeful a new generation of voters will take on the issues of child poverty and inequality he is known for documenting.
Bruce will be presenting his ‘What We Know, What We Say And What We Do’ talk in Nelson tomorrow. It addresses poverty, inequality, and ethical decisionmaking.
Bruce has made a range of documentaries, including Inside Child Poverty and Mind the Gap.
He will speak about his own upbringing, which relied on social welfare, and how it was similar to Prime Minister John Key’s, who grew up in a state house.
Despite similar backgrounds, Bruce said he and Key now have completely different views about what the Government’s obligations are to New Zealand’s youngest citizens.
Bruce said people have been ‘‘hammering away’’ about inequality and child poverty and are seeing changes like free healthcare for children.
However, ‘‘social change is a slow fix’’, he said.
‘‘It takes a long time for people to begin to realise there are major issues with the way we live.’’
He said a lot more needed to be done, questions asked and decisions made.
‘‘We have to decide, what kind of country do we want to be? Who are we, what do we stand for, and what do we want as a people? And then figure out how we are going to pay for it.’’
Bruce found that with his tour, the audience had been split between older members, and those in their 20s.
‘‘I get a sense from them [younger audiences] they are fed up with the ‘me society’ they are quite interested in me talking about the ‘we society,’ and these are new voters.’’