TacklingPovertyNZ: Exploring ways to reduce poverty in New Zealand – Workshop programme and flyer available

It is a pleasure to announce that a flyer and the first version of the workshop programme have been added to the TacklingPovertyNZ website (also see below). The workshop will bring together 30 young New Zealanders, who will work together to prepare a youth perspective on the issue of poverty in New Zealand and how we might, as a country, go about tackling it.

It will run from the evening of Sunday, 6 December 2020 to the evening of Wednesday, 9 December 2020 in Wellington. If you would like to register your interest to attend this workshop, please see the registrations page of the TacklingPovertyNZ website. Registrations close on Friday 6 November.

Programme:
Version one of the workshop programme can be found here; confirmed speakers thus far include:

• Hon. Paul Goldsmith, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister;
• Dr Girol Karacaoglu, Deputy Secretary – Macroeconomic, International and Economic Research and Chief Economist at the New Zealand Treasury;
• Dr Ganesh Nana, Chief Economist at BERL (Business and Economic Research Limited);
• Max Rashbrooke, editor of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis and the author of The Inequality Debate: An Introduction;
• Dame Diane Robertson (DNZM), CEO of the Auckland City Mission;
• Suzanne Snively (ONZM), Independent Director of the New Zealand Army Leadership Board and 2020 Wellingtonian of the Year; and
• Tania Tapsell, one of New Zealand’s youngest councillors and current member of the Ministry of Youth Development’s national youth advisory group.

Over 72 hours participants will engage with and learn from these speakers, as well as from policy analysts within Treasury, key people in the wider community and individuals who have experienced poverty first-hand.

Participants:
The Institute seeks to build a group of engaged and enthusiastic young people (18 to 25 years of age) who each fit at least one of the following descriptions:

• Has experienced poverty or hardship first-hand.
• Works in a position (voluntary or paid) dealing with issues of poverty at the front line.
• Studies relevant topics such as economics, design, media, ethics, arts, law, politics or public policy and has a strong interest in reducing poverty in New Zealand.
• None of the above, but has a strong interest in and knowledge of issues surrounding poverty.

Participants will work hard over the 72 hours both at Treasury and in Parliament, where they will present their findings to MPs and invited guests.  For more information on the final presentation, see our upcoming events page or email [email protected]. Past workshops and their publications can be found on the following websites: LocalNZ, LivingStandardsNZ, LongTermNZ, EmpowerNZ and StrategyNZ.

The Institute undertakes youth workshops in collaboration with the New Zealand Treasury. Without their support we would not be able to make these events happen.

…..