Nobody Cares About Nicola Willis’ Stupid Blue Dress

The New Zealand mainstream media and National Party MPs are trying to whip up a storm over Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ choice of a blue dress for Budget Day 2025. Apparently, it’s a scandal because it’s from a UK designer, not a Kiwi one. Cue the outrage from a single fashion industry figure and a bizarre parade of male National MPs posting “fit checks” on social media to “support” Willis' dress choice.

But let’s be real, nobody actually cares about Willis' eyesore of a wardrobe. This is another manufactured controversy, a classic right-wing sleight of hand to distract from the real issues: an austerity budget that’s gutting public services and increasing hardship for already struggling New Zealanders.

Today, the ODT reported:

'Belongs in the 1950s': Willis bites back over Budget Day dress barb

Willis delivered last week's Budget in a blue dress, believed to be the Nouvelle Sculpt Stretch Crepe Dress, from British womenswear label The Fold London, according to The New Zealand Herald.

Caroline Marr, owner of Auckland-based fashion brand The Carpenter's Daughter, told the Herald that Willis' decision not to wear a Kiwi brand during the high-profile moment was a signal of "total disrespect" to the local fashion industry.

"We have wonderful designers here, Jacinda [Ardern] got it right by wearing NZ-made as much as possible. Our leaders should also be doing that. Be proud of your nation and what we make here."

The 2025 Budget, dressed up as a “growth” plan, is anything but. Willis has slashed $1.1 billion in new spending, citing Trump’s tariffs and a slowing economy. Meanwhile, the government’s axing $12.8 billion from pay equity settlements, hitting women in low-paid, female-dominated sectors like care work the hardest. These aren’t just numbers, they’re livelihoods. The budget also halves KiwiSaver contributions, tightens welfare for 18 and 19-year-olds, which will leave many families struggling. This isn’t “fiscal discipline”; it’s austerity that punishes the vulnerable while funnelling $6.6 billion in tax breaks to businesses and landlords.

And let’s talk about the racist undertones. The budget scraps Māori and Pasifika initiatives, part of nearly 4000 public sector jobs and 240 programs cut. These weren’t “wasteful” project, they were targeted support for communities already facing systemic inequities. Labour’s Barbara Edmonds called it a budget that “leaves women out,” but it’s also a budget that sidelines Māori and Pasifika, deepening disparities under the guise of “responsibility.” The Greens’ Marama Davidson nailed it: this government is “happy to be cruel and mean” to those already struggling.

But here's what senior government ministers are concerned with:

Focusing on what our Minister of Finance is wearing instead of the outstanding Growth Budget she’s just delivered? Be better. pic.twitter.com/0PMgZa4e8F

— Christopher Bishop (@cjsbishop) May 24, 2025

Talk about tedious!

So why the dress drama, which has been doing the rounds in right-wing echo-chambers for days now? It’s a deliberate distraction. The Herald’s article and right-wing MPs like Chris Bishop and David Seymour hyping it on social media are trying to shift focus from the budget’s failures. This is about burying the pay equity scandal and the budget’s harsh cuts. Instead of debating real issues, like how austerity has historically tanked economies (look at Greece or the UK) or how these cuts will drive even more Kiwis overseas, they’re obsessing over someones opinion about a $1100 blue dress. It’s pathetic!

Willis herself said there are “far more interesting things to talk about” than her clothes. She’s right, but not for the reasons she thinks. We should be talking about a budget that prioritises corporate tax breaks over people, that ignores climate change, and that kicks marginalised communities when they’re down. The dress? It’s just a distraction to keep us from noticing the mess this government’s creating with their socially destructive policies.

While Caroline Marr correctly calls Willis’ wardrobe choice “disrespectful” to local designers, the real scandal is Budget 2025’s $1.1 billion in spending cuts, $12.8 billion slashed from pay equity, and the gutting of Māori and Pasifika initiatives. These austerity measures hit the vulnerable hardest, yet the government wants us debating fashion choices instead of their cruel policies. It’s a pathetic distraction from a budget that prioritises tax breaks for the wealthy over everyday Kiwis.

Government Fanning The Flames Of Racism

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should have noticed that racism in New Zealand isn't just a lingering shadow of colonialism, it’s a structural pillar of our current government, with their latest policies pouring even more fuel on the fire. New Zealand likes to pat itself on the back as a progressive paradise, but scratch bellow the surface, and the ugly truth of entrenched racism is as clear as day. From systemic inequities to tone-deaf legislation, the powers-that-be are doubling down on policies that widen the gap for Māori and Pasifika communities, all while cloaking it in dishonest “fairness” rhetoric that nobody in their right mind should believe.

Let’s start with the cold, hard reality. Māori make up 17% of the population but over 50% of the prison population. Pasifika are over-represented in poverty stats, with one in five kids in low-income households. Health outcomes? Māori life expectancy lags behind Pākehā by nearly a decade. These aren’t accidents; they’re the scars of a system built on colonial theft that has been sustained by political apathy. The Waitangi Tribunal’s been highlighting breaches of Te Tiriti for decades, yet successive governments have kicked the can down the road.

Enter the current coalition of chaos government, which seems hell-bent on making things even worse. Take the recent push to dismantle Māori-specific policies under the guise of “equality before the law”. Scrapping the Māori Health Authority? A gut-punch to people already battling systemic healthcare disparities. The rhetoric around “one law for all” sounds noble until you realise it erases targeted support for those who’ve been screwed over for generations. Then there’s the Fast-track Approvals Bill, which sidelines Māori consultation on resource projects. When iwi voices are silenced, it’s not just a policy tweak, it’s a middle finger to Te Tiriti and the principle of partnership.


Last week, 1 News reported:

Luxon: No compromise on Te Pāti Māori decision, rejects ‘racism’ claims

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the National Party will not make any concessions on the Privileges Committee's recommendation to suspend three Te Pāti Māori MPs from Parliament.

Last week, the Privileges Committee recommended the suspensions of co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke in the wake of a haka that was performed during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year.

A 21-day suspension was recommended for Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer, while a seven-day suspension was recommended for Maipi-Clarke.

The fact that Judith Collins lied about Te Pāti Māori halting the vote and handing down the longest suspensions in New Zealand's political history certainly points to one conclusion.

However, this type of racism isn’t new. The government’s playbook, dressed up as pragmatism, leans heavily on dog-whistle politics that scapegoat Māori for daring to demand a fairer New Zealand. Remember the foreshore and seabed debacle? We’re seeing its ghost again, with Treaty settlements under threat and public discourse increasingly hostile. Social media’s a cesspool of anti-Māori sentiment, emboldened by politicians who’d rather stoke division than address root causes. Numerous posts by right-wing operatives blame Māori for “special treatment,” conveniently ignoring the centuries of land grabs, cultural erasure, and economic exclusion that has inhibited New Zealand from reaching its full potential.


Yesterday, E-Tangata reported:

Is our government racist?

…

It was about power and control, and how this is related to the kind of unacknowledged and denied racism (masquerading under a number of other guises) that plagues parliament and, indeed, our society as a whole.

Simply put, being Maōri and doing Māori things is okay as long as people in power control what is involved, and when and how it appears. It is a cultural contortion which creates an impression of inclusion while upholding unacknowledged racism.

For parliament to control how Māori appear in parliament is little better than excluding Māori altogether. I would argue it’s worse because such controlled inclusion has the effect of diffusing challenge and creating the appearance of “good race relations”, a myth mainstream New Zealand has been careful to cultivate over the years.

 

So, what’s the fix? First, stop pretending racism’s a few bad apples, it’s the whole damn orchard. The government needs to honour Te Tiriti, not as a box-ticking exercise but as a living commitment. That means reinvesting in Māori-led solutions, from healthcare to education, and amplifying iwi voices in resource decisions. It means calling out the coded language of “equality” for what it is: a Trojan horse for maintaining Pākehā privilege. And it means Pakeha need to own their role in dismantling the system, not just shrugging and saying, “It’s complicated.”

The clock’s ticking. If this government keeps torching Māori rights, the social fabric of Aotearoa will fray even further. We’re better than this, or at least, we should be. Let’s demand policies that heal the social divide, not harm it, and create a future where “equality” isn’t just a dirty word the ACT Party roles out every time someone dares to question the government's racist policies.

Kiwi Workers and Beneficiaries Left Further Behind

You may recall the current Prime Minister Chris Luxon promising that his government would have a laser focus on New Zealand’s cost-of-living crisis. But the 2025 minimum wage and benefit adjustments are yet another set of half-measures that fail to lift struggling Kiwi families out of financial hardship.

Far from delivering any financial relief for everyday New Zealanders, these tweaks leave workers and beneficiaries grappling with rising costs, while the government prioritises billions of dollars for landlord and corporate interests.


On Thursday, RNZ reported:

Budget Day: Government looks to make its promises add up

Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Renney, who is also on the Labour Party's policy council, said the government did not have much to work with given it would not borrow more money.

"We're cutting government services at a time when we know there's increasing demand on those services," he said.

"We have an increasingly elderly population. We have increasingly higher needs in terms of health and education."

Now is the time, he said, to invest in the economy and inject some confidence into the economy.

…

In the budget, he will be looking out for how the government has chosen to use the savings from stopping the pay equity claims. He will also be looking at Treasury's estimates for what is happening to unemployment, wages and the cost of living.

"We've actually seen wages rising far less quickly than in the past, and we've seen two years of cuts to the minimum wage in real terms, and we've seen rising unemployment.

"If those trends continue, that will suggest that the medicine and the pain of economic change is really being borne by workers, in particular, low-paid workforces, rather than by others in the economy who might have broader shoulders."

As of April 1, 2025, the minimum wage inched up by just $0.35 to $23.50/hour…a mere 1.5% increase. For a full-time worker, that’s an extra $14 per week before tax, barely a dent against soaring living costs. The 2025/26 Living Wage, calculated at $28.95/hour, reflects what a person needs for a dignified life, not mere survival. That’s a 23.2% gap (or $11,336/year) between the minimum wage and a living income. In Auckland, where rents consume 50-60% of a minimum-wage earner’s income and power bills rise by $10/month, this increase doesn’t come anywhere near inflation. It’s effectively a pay cut in real terms.

The government’s talk of “balancing business needs” is a thinly veiled excuse for favouring corporate profits over workers’ livelihoods, forcing many into poverty or relocation abroad to find better liveable incomes.

Benefits fare no better. The 2025 Annual General Adjustment lifts main benefits like Jobseeker Support and Sole Parent Support by a paltry 2%, while NZ Superannuation gets a slightly higher 3% increase. A single Jobseeker receives roughly $290-$300/week, totalling $15,600/year. Even with the maximum Accommodation Supplement ($145/week in some areas), that’s just $22,620/year...far below the $40,476/year needed for a modest but liveable income. Sole parents, with Family Tax Credit, reaches about $27,300/year, still falling well short.

Superannuitants living alone now get $28,037.84/year, leaving them well below a dignified standard, particularly if they don’t own their own home. These gaps force families, pensioners, and disabled Kiwis to choose between rent, power, or food, while food banks report surging demand, even from working households. The government's new Rates Rebate Scheme for pensioners, meant to ease local council rates, is a flawed bandage. With complex eligibility, capped rebates, and rising rates because of the cancelled Three Waters scheme outpacing inflation, it will fail to deliver any meaningful relief for our struggling elderly people.

Raising the minimum wage to $28.95/hour would cost employers $1.61B annually, while moderately increasing benefits to $40,476/year for 1.1M recipients would cost $16.09B. These figures are affordable within New Zealand’s $140B budget, especially when compared to the billions funnelled into landlord and business tax breaks.

While workers and beneficiaries scrape by, business owners and landlords benefit from generous policy handouts that haven’t boosted the economy at all, while increases to minimum wages and benefits have been shown to boost the economy substantially. It’s time to prioritise the people over corporate profits, not just to ensure higher living standards, but to also give the economy the boost it needs.

The government’s narrative of “fiscal restraint,” with $5.3B in Budget 2025 savings, rings hollow when essentials like housing and food outpace inflation. Tying benefit increases to CPI or wage growth ignores these realities, deliberately keeping the vulnerable trapped in hardship. What’s needed is bold action: a minimum wage of at least $28.95/hour and benefits modestly raised to $40,476/year for a single adult. In high-cost regions like Auckland, workers may need a boost to $30-$32/hour.

Targeted subsidies for housing (in combination with a rent freeze) could also help, but incremental tweaks won’t suffice. This government’s cautious approach betrays Kiwi values. It’s time to support the workers and families who keep New Zealand running, not just National’s corporate mates and fellow landlords.

Nicola Willis’ Budget 2025 Doesn't Stack Up

In true National Party fashion, Finance Minister Nicola Willis unveiled Budget 2025, trumpeting it as a “Growth Budget” to drag New Zealand out of its economic mire. But dig beneath the glossy rhetoric, and you’ll find a fiscal plan riddled with financial holes, short-sighted cuts, and a callous disregard for the vulnerable. This isn’t a budget for growth…it’s a blueprint to increase inequity and create even more economic instability.

 

First, let’s talk about the very large structural deficit elephant in the room. Treasury’s flagged a gaping 2.7% of GDP operating deficit for 2024/25, with net core Crown debt ballooning to 46% of GDP by 2027/28, double the prudent pre-COVID levels.

 

Willis’ Budget Policy Statement offers no clear path to rein this growing debt in. It’s a reckless oversight, leaving New Zealand exposed to global shocks like the U.S. tariffs, which Treasury warns could shave 0.2% off GDP growth. It also exposes the government to the risk of credit ratings downgrades, with Standard & Poors already warning that National's austerity budget only partially offsets the revenue declines they've caused, and that elevated twin deficits could jeopardize the country’s credit ratings. With tax revenue projected to already be $13.3 billion short, thanks partly to the $6.6 billion Investment Boost tax break for businesses (delivering a measly 1% GDP bump over two decades), this budget bets on fairy-tale optimism while the government’s books bleed.

The National Party’s previous budgets, notably 2023 and 2024, faced criticism for shortfalls and blowouts. A $3.3B–$5.2B funding gap in 2023 left promises like tax cuts and infrastructure underfunded. Health and education faced shortfalls due to inflation and rising costs, while cyclone recovery costs risked $500M–$1B blowouts. Tax relief in 2024 risked a $1B–$2B deficit if revenue fell short, reflecting overly optimistic growth assumptions and incorrect fiscal planning. Fast forward to Budget 2025, and National hasn't learnt from their mistakes at all:

Then there’s the slash-and-burn approach to public services. Willis’ $1 billion operating allowance cut and targeted hits to Oranga Tamariki, pay equity, and discretionary grants scream austerity, not progress. The Auditor-General already criticised last year’s 6.5% Oranga Tamariki cut as a chaotic mess, disrupting care for at risk children. However, Willis has totally ignored this, with Budget 2025 doubling down on these cuts, which risks further service breakdowns for the most vulnerable. Early Childhood Education (ECE) gets a pathetic 0.5% inflation adjustment, which in real-terms is a cut of 1.6%, piling pressure on providers and parents alike. This isn’t fiscal discipline; it’s a deliberate choice to starve essential services while handing tax breaks to landlords and tobacco barons. The coalition of chaos has clearly got its priorities wrong, and you only have to look at who is funding their campaigns to see why.

The KiwiSaver changes are another kick in the guts for ordinary hardworking New Zealanders. Halving government contributions to 25 cents per dollar (capped at $261) and hiking minimum contributions to 4% hits low-income savers hardest. Excluding those earning over $180,000 from contributions sounds progressive but bizarrely spares NZ Super eligibility from similar means-testing. It’s a muddled policy that undermines retirement security for the young and working poor, all to save a few bucks. Financial experts like Frances Cook warn this could deter people from saving altogether. It’s a classic National move to prioritise short-term optics over long-term stability. And let’s not forget the $2.7 billion “savings” from gutting 33 pay equity claims. Rushed through under urgency, the Pay Equity Amendment Bill invites legal challenges that could cost taxpayers dearly. It’s a gamble that screams incompetence, trading immediate savings for future liabilities, a trade-off that only a very desperate and short-sighted government would be willing to make.

The good people of New Zealand are right to be outraged. Nicola Willis is wasting taxpayer dollars on delivering less while slashing even more from our already stretched social services. Budget 2025 isn’t about growth…it’s about entrenching inequality, dodging accountability, and kicking the debt can down the road. New Zealanders deserve better than this fiscal fiasco. New Zealand should therefore remove the coalition of chaos before they can do any further harm.

National’s 20% "Investment Boost" Won’t Work

The National Party’s one and only budget bribe, dressed up as the “Investment Boost,” is a shameless vote-buying scheme aimed squarely at business owners. With their new policy allowing a 20% tax deduction on new equipment purchases, National is tossing out lollies to a select few while ignoring the broader economic mess they've created and the desperate need for social investment elsewhere.

 

According to National’s own glossy spin, their 20% deductibility scheme is supposed to ignite a firestorm of investment and supercharge productivity. But let’s be real…this is a flimsy Band-Aid on the gaping wound inflicted by Trump’s reckless tariffs, which are set to hammer our economy like a sledgehammer. Economic modelling from AUT’s Niven Winchester paints a grim picture: an initial $900 million gut-punch to New Zealand’s $9 billion U.S. export market, with our meat and dairy sectors being hit hardest.

Treasury and Inland Revenue estimate National's “Investment Boost", which doesn't address Trump's tariff's at all, will only increase GDP by 1% over 20 years, with half those gains in the first five. But there's a problem: the cost. National’s track record of tax cuts and business handouts for the wealthy suggests this could easily run into the billions, over the forecast period. There's also the issue of lower export earnings and the tax incentive costing an average of $1.7 billion per year in reduced tax revenue. So where exactly is the government going to find the shortfall?

The so-called “Investment Boost" is money siphoned from public coffers into private hands that could be rebuilding our crumbling health system, funding education, or tackling the housing crisis, all of which is already putting downward pressure on our economy. Instead, National’s prioritising shiny new toys for the wealthy over things like reducing the number of kids in poverty, with it's exponential costs further down the line. They're leaving our hospitals to crumble, with workers such as nurses and doctors stretched to breaking point.

Child poverty’s economic toll dwarfs any benefit from National’s tax lolly scramble. A 2024 analysis by economist Craig Renney estimates child poverty costs New Zealand $17.7 billion annually (4.27% of GDP) through lower productivity, higher welfare, and increased health and crime costs. That’s $5.1 billion in lost tax revenue yearly, enough to triple the Investment Boost and still fund our schools and hospitals. With 156,000 children in material hardship in 2023, up from 120,000 in 2022, National’s focus on the short term with business handouts over social investment is indefensible!

However, this isn’t just about skewed priorities; it’s about effectiveness. The economy’s stalled, with sluggish GDP growth and high inflation choking New Zealand since 2023. Consumers aren’t spending, and businesses, from tradies to manufacturers, are feeling the pinch. Will a 20% tax break on shiny new equipment really convince a struggling business owner hit by Trump's tariffs to splash out when demand’s flatlining? National’s banking on a trickle-down fantasy, hoping businesses will invest, hire, and pay more. But in a recessionary climate, most will simply hold tight, and not expand. The real winners? Big corporates with cash to burn on equipment, not the small-time tradie or farmer battling falling revenue, soaring rates and high interest costs.

When National took power in late 2023, they inherited an economy already under strain, but their policies have only deepened the rot. GDP growth has tanked, with a measly 0.6% quarterly rise in Q4 2024 after a 1.0% contraction in Q3. The economy shrank by 0.5% overall in 2024…hardly the “rebuilding” National had promised. Unemployment has climbed from 3.4% in Q4 2022 to 4.6% in June 2024, with projections of a peak of 5.4% in 2025. Company liquidations are up 19.3% in 2023/24, with over 2,100 businesses folding. Meanwhile, net debt has ballooned from 38.45% of GDP in 2023 under Labour to 42.6% in March 2025 under National, with forecasts of further increases. National’s response? Slash public services and throw tax breaks at the wealthy, leaving ordinary Kiwis to bear the brunt of a stagnating economy where trickle down economics has never worked.

Will their “Investment Boost" incentivise spending? No! Not when you facture in other headwinds. It probably won't even buy votes. Business owners might be tempted by the immediate tax relief, but they’re not daft. They know a stalled economy means fewer customers and less revenue, no matter how many tax breaks National dangles. Farmers and tradies, battered by global trade disruptions and local costs, might see through this as a flashy distraction from National’s failure to address the big picture. If the economy’s not working for all Kiwis, no amount of lollies or new toys for the rich will mask the bitter taste of National’s economic mismanagement.

NZ Child Suicide Crisis: Experts Muddying the Waters

Sarah Hetrick

The latest UNICEF Report Card 19 has delivered a wake up call to New Zealand’s conscience, ranking us dead last for child and youth mental health among 36 OECD and EU countries, with the highest youth suicide rate at 17.1 per 100,000 for 15 to 19-year-olds, nearly X3 the average for other high-income nations. But despite the well-researched UNICEF statistics, certain so-called “experts” are crying foul, claiming the numbers are “misleading.” Their arguments, rooted in technicalities about confirmed versus suspected suicides, not only undermine the gravity of the crisis but also distract from the government’s insidious tweaks to reporting that obscure the true scale of the tragedy.

On Friday, RNZ reported:

Misleading figures on New Zealand youth suicide rates

Two researchers from the University of Auckland, who are experts in youth mental health, say that figure is wrong.

The global charity's report on child wellbeing came out last Wednesday, with New Zealand ranking the lowest of 36 countries for mental wellbeing.

The graph attracting the most attention was the one on youth suicide rates, in which New Zealand outranked all other countries, with a rate of 17.1 per 100,000 15-to-19-year-olds.

"This is our whole world, this research, so we know what the data looks like for New Zealand," associate professor Sarah Hetrick told The Detail.

"We just knew when we saw it that it wasn't correct."

...

Associate professor Sarah Fortune, who is the director for population mental health at University of Auckland, explained the difference.

"The first one is called confirmed deaths, so that tells us that the circumstances of that person's death have been reviewed by the coroner and have been recorded as being a suicide death," she said. "Then we have suspected cases, which indicates that that situation is still open to the coroner."

The UNICEF Report Card 19 analysed trends in youth suicide using only data on confirmed suicide rates.

Hetrick and Fortune, both tied to the University of Auckland, argued that the UNICEF figures, based on confirmed suicides from 2018-2020, are outdated and inflated, pointing to more recent suspected suicide rates of 12.3 per 100,000 (2021-22) and 11.8 (2023-24). They lean on the fact that New Zealand’s coronial process distinguishes between “confirmed” and “suspected” suicides, suggesting the UNICEF data doesn’t reflect a downward trend in suspected cases.

But this is a sleight of hand. The UNICEF report uses globally comparable data to ensure fairness, drawing from confirmed suicides to align with other countries’ methodologies.

More troubling is the government’s role in this preventable tragedy. Knowing that things would likely continue to get worse, everyone but Labour voted in 2016 to make changes to suicide reporting protocols, which has restricted what qualifies as a “confirmed” suicide. The coronial process, already slow, now demands stricter evidence, delaying or outright excluding certain cases from official tallies. It’s also the reason why the latest suicide stats are showing a decline, while all the social conditions that cause suicide are continuing to worsen. This isn’t just bureaucratic red tape…it’s a deliberate move to suppress the numbers and make things look better than they actually are. By focusing on “confirmed” versus “suspected” suicides, and limiting reporting, the government creates a mirage of progress while the real crisis festers. The UNICEF report’s 17.1 rate isn’t an anomaly; it’s a snapshot of a systemic failure that’s actually worse than reported, given the new criteria reducing confirmed cases.

Sarah Fortune

The existing numbers already paint a very bleak picture. Māori and Pacific youth are disproportionately affected, with Māori suicide rates 1.7 times higher than non-Māori for males and 2.4 times for females. Poverty, racism, and a post-colonial legacy fuel this epidemic, yet Hetrick and Fortune’s focus on statistical nuances distracts from these structural drivers. The Youth2000 series, which they cite for broader well-being indicators, still shows 6.2% of youth attempting suicide, with higher rates in deprived areas. If anything, the data suggests the crisis is underreported, not overstated.

By downplaying the UNICEF report, these "experts" risk feeding a narrative that lets the government off the hook. The coalition of chaos’ austerity Budget 2025, with its 116 cuts that will disproportionately affect those already at risk, will likely worsen New Zealand’s terrible suicide rates. Instead of quibbling over numbers, we need to put pressure on the government to urgently invest in mental health services, housing stability, and poverty reduction measures. The real scandal isn’t UNICEF’s data…it’s the lives lost while people bicker about what set of statistics are correct, effectively providing cover for an administration that is only making an already atrocious situation worse.

 

Places to get help:

Lifeline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 354
Depression Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 111 757
Healthline (open 24/7) - 0800 611 116
Samaritans (open 24/7) - 0800 726 666
Suicide Crisis Helpline (open 24/7) - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
Youthline (open 24/7) - 0800 376 633. You can also text 234 for free between 8am and midnight, or email talk@youthline.co.nz
0800 WHATSUP children's helpline - phone 0800 9428 787 between 1pm and 10pm on weekdays and from 3pm to 10pm on weekends. Online chat is available from 7pm to 10pm every day at www.whatsup.co.nz.
Kidsline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 754. This service is for children aged 5 to 18. Those who ring between 4pm and 9pm on weekdays will speak to a Kidsline buddy. These are specially trained teenage telephone counsellors.
Your local Rural Support Trust - 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP)
Alcohol Drug Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 787 797. You can also text 8691 for free.