As hundreds of people slept on concrete overnight in the hopes of getting some donated food or gifts for Christmas, TVNZ1 Breakfast host John Campbell reflected today on the state of poverty in New Zealand.
Campbell was at Eden Park, where the Auckland City Mission is hosting one of four distribution centres set up in Auckland today. They are Papakura Marae and Ngā Whare Waatea Marae in south Auckland, VisionWest in Glen Eden and Eden Park in Auckland central. Thousands of people are expected at the centres, where Christmas goods have been donated for those in need. "Even though this is a story of desperate need it is also a story of celebration and humanity and kindness," Campbell said. However, it is also a stark reminder of poverty in New Zealand. "People are sleeping on concrete outside and they are sleeping to get food and presents for Christmas. Imagine having to do that," Campbell said, estimating 30 to 40 of the 200 people at Eden Park were children.
"We talk about this all the time and usually we talk to adults and we leave children out of this because whatever is going on it's never a child's responsibility," he said, crouching next to a sleeping child on the ground who had been waiting overnight with her family. "This is our country and there's no point pretending this isn't our country because it is, and those of us who are journalist's see it quite often. Those of us who work in this sector see it all the time. "There are many children here and they are waiting for food that their families might run short of and they are waiting for presents that they might not otherwise get, and this is the reality of life for some of us in New Zealand at the moment. Also waiting at the centre, a struggling mum told Campbell she was there for food and Christmas presents, as well as aroha and people's spirit. She caught the bus before 6am, carrying two suitcases to bring back kai for her whānau, because otherwise they wouldn't have enough. "Needing it every week," she said of running out of money. "Just to be honest and real, it's happening here in New Zealand. "We struggle, we really struggle. We reach out to agencies that are willing to give aroha from their hearts." The mother-of-one said she goes without power most weekends, telling her family it's "like camping". "We've got to tell the kids something instead of them going out and telling everybody that we've got no power - that's when you get social services on site and we don't want them on site. We just want people to know we're struggling." Agencies like City Mission and The Salvation Army are asking for donations of money, food and new presents for babies to teenagers.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.1% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.9% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
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