Cost Of Living: Will Any Party Step Up?

Paul Barber of the Salvation Army's Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit joins Andrew Urquhart to discuss cost of living as a defining election issue, pointing to double-digit rises in transport and energy costs and growing numbers of working families, not just beneficiaries, seeking food and financial support.

Barber argues major parties have offered too few concrete, immediate measures, citing hardship grant limits as inadequate and calling for wider eligibility for cost-of-living support such as the in-work tax credit. He also urges longer-term solutions like strengthening regional food economies and local co-operatives alongside supermarket competition reform, and encourages voters to press candidates directly on their cost-of-living policies ([www.salvationarmy.org.nz](https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz)).

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