■ When I think about the foundations needed for a good life, the first place my mind goes is a roof over my family’s head, a pantry full of food, security in my job, and access to healthcare when we are sick, writes East Coast Labour list MP Jo Luxton

From there, we build the rest: thriving nature, good schools, strong transport links, profitable businesses, and connected communities with accessible gathering spaces and local facilities.

Supporting this is Government’s job. It is the Government’s responsibility to make decisions that not only care for our economy, but care for our people.

Right now, the most vulnerable people in our communities are losing financial and personal support programmes, and advocacy, that enable them to live connected, fulfilling, and self-determined lives.

Their voices have been ignored by a Government that chooses to prioritise millions in tax cuts for tobacco companies, while hardworking and vulnerable New Zealanders in need are left behind.

I know well the feeling of being in need and sitting in a WINZ office as a single mother desperately needing help and using a foodbank to feed my three young children.

The social safety net gave me a hand up. It helped me upskill, gain qualifications, and ultimately enabled me to be where I am today. But without that safety net, I’m not sure where I’d be.

The sad reality is that low educational achievement still exists, poverty is more visible that ever, homelessness and housing needs are increasing, unemployment is at a 10-year high, and the health system is struggling to cope.

Yet, this Government is making things worse – not better.

Take support for housing as an example – for two years it’s been attack after attack: major cuts to Kāinga Ora, tighter access to emergency and community housing, and now move-on orders for people experiencing homelessness.

These policies don’t fix the “problem”, they shift it. They lead to more hardship, more trauma, and more people sleeping in cars, couch surfing, and living on the streets.

And despite our very own local council leaders and government agencies pleading for stability and support so vulnerable people can rebuild their lives, this Government is choosing to turn their back.

This isn’t an isolated example. Joblessness is rising and 23,700 more children are living in hardship than two years ago. Food insecurity is at an all-time high.

The “problems” are pushed out of sight, while the safety net is being taken away.

We like to tell ourselves that New Zealand is a country where people look out for one another. If that is true, then we must also believe in the power of the social safety net – one that catches people when they fall on hard times and gives them the chance to stand up again.

■ Jo Luxton is Labour List MP based in East Coast and Labour spokesperson for Agriculture, Biosecurity and Rural Communities