October 25th - In a Land of Plenty screening
25th October - 10.05pm - TV One
New Zealand currently has 89,000 registered unemployed. The Reserve Bank is trying to slow the economy which will lead to this number increasing.
"In a Land of Plenty" is an historical documentary describing how New Zealand moved from being a country of genuine full employment to one where unemployment is used as a tool of economic management. With rising unemployment workers are less likely to seek wage increases. Wages make up the largest part of the cost of goods and services and so by constraining wages the general level of prices is held steady. Inflation is contained.
Economic theory aside, unemployment is an emotional subject and this documentary gives voice to the low paid, the beneficiaries and their dependents whose quality of life is now shaped by Reserve Bank policy makers. Reserve Bank officials like Don Brash are seen explaining their actions. One of the most shocking scenes involves young Treasury officials deciding on a "poverty line". To increase the motivation of the unemployed to search for work, they decide that benefits should be cut to a level at which the recipient would have only just enough to eat.
Extraordinary footage from WINZ training videos shows Christine Rankin personifying the steady shift in attitude from compassion to compulsion in our welfare state. Pearl Biggs gives a moving account of having to choose whether to buy food for her children or to pay the power bill.
Director/researcher Alister Barry says "I am delighted that this film is to be screened on tv, I never expected it. The more people understand the way power really works in New Zealand, the more they can get some control over their lives. Michael Cullen says there is no alternative. I believe we can return to genuine full employment."
New Zealand currently has 89,000 registered unemployed. The Reserve Bank is trying to slow the economy which will lead to this number increasing.
"In a Land of Plenty" is an historical documentary describing how New Zealand moved from being a country of genuine full employment to one where unemployment is used as a tool of economic management. With rising unemployment workers are less likely to seek wage increases. Wages make up the largest part of the cost of goods and services and so by constraining wages the general level of prices is held steady. Inflation is contained.
Economic theory aside, unemployment is an emotional subject and this documentary gives voice to the low paid, the beneficiaries and their dependents whose quality of life is now shaped by Reserve Bank policy makers. Reserve Bank officials like Don Brash are seen explaining their actions. One of the most shocking scenes involves young Treasury officials deciding on a "poverty line". To increase the motivation of the unemployed to search for work, they decide that benefits should be cut to a level at which the recipient would have only just enough to eat.
Extraordinary footage from WINZ training videos shows Christine Rankin personifying the steady shift in attitude from compassion to compulsion in our welfare state. Pearl Biggs gives a moving account of having to choose whether to buy food for her children or to pay the power bill.
Director/researcher Alister Barry says "I am delighted that this film is to be screened on tv, I never expected it. The more people understand the way power really works in New Zealand, the more they can get some control over their lives. Michael Cullen says there is no alternative. I believe we can return to genuine full employment."
posted by Leith at 2:35 pm
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