IN RESPONSE to National Party leader Christopher Luxon's 'State of the Nation' speech on Saturday, Willie Jackson tweeted: 'Chris Luxon is telling you to your face that under his New Zealand, the rich will get richer and the poor will get less. We should take him at his word.'

But the Minister of Maori Development seems to have either forgotten or is choosing to ignore that under this Labour Government the rich have already got considerably richer and the poor have already got considerably poorer.  

During the course of this pandemic business commentator Bernard Hickey estimates the rich have become a trillion dollars richer and the poor $400 million poorer.

Of course Labour's tribal supporters will parrot Jackson's word as if they are true but for the rest of us, we are confronted by the ugly reality of the two major political parties perpetuating exactly the same market-driven policies that have produced chronic poverty and inequality.

In 2021 Willie Jackson had property interests worth more than $3 million. He is one of the select number of New Zealanders who have grown considerably wealthier under this Labour Government. Little wonder he is a loyal supporter of the 'free market'.