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New Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March has spoken out on inequality and the treatment of immigrants in New Zealand during his powerful first speech in Parliament today, saying: “The rules were simply not made for us.”
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The newly elected deputy delivered his first speech in Parliament. Source: Supplied
The newly elected MP began to “acknowledge everyone who ever had to lie to work and income to survive.”
He also shared an expression from the LGBT + community: “Be gay, commit crimes.”
“For me it means being a transgressor, recognizing that decision makers have created rules that criminalize our survival and our existence,” Menéndez March explained.
“The rules were just not created for us. They were made to defend a system where the rich few continue to enrich themselves at the expense of our planet, and this House is allowing it.”
For some politicians, Menéndez March says that discussions about low wages, public housing, benefit levels and the rights of migrants are “abstract things.”
However, for others, it is less theoretical.
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Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere, Teanau Tuiono and Ricardo Menéndez March say they are looking to address some important issues now that they are in Parliament. Source: Breakfast
“We talk about increasing income and public housing for everyone because we know what it’s like to count your dollars before the next paycheck,” he said.
“We fight to reform the welfare system because we know what it’s like to sit for hours at work and income, with every receipt scrutinized for a measly food subsidy, while businesses easily access millions of dollars in subsidies during the pandemic in a high-confidence model. “
Rather than being abstract, Menéndez March calls it a “struggle for the survival of the communities we serve and to which we belong.”
The Mexican-born MP also shared concerns about apparent hypocrisy when it comes to the treatment of migrants in the country.
“While we were blamed for buying all the houses, we were also blamed for bringing in low-skilled and low-wage labor that did not contribute to the economy, or so they claimed,” he says.
“It was the politicians who dismissed the work of low-wage workers as low-skilled and low-value that made me tune in to local politics.”
Menéndez March was elected deputy from the Green Party list in the last election and is the party’s spokesperson for commerce and consumer affairs, food safety, immigration, senior citizens, social development, sports and recreation, and tourism.
