The numbers behind John Key’s Brighter Future

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3 – the percent fall in New Zealand’s median household income between 2010 and 2011.

10 – number of New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2010.

21 – the percent of children growing up in poverty in New Zealand in 2011.

40 – the percent rise in youth suicide in the last year. Eighty 15-19 year olds have killed themselves, up from 56 the year before.

53,900 – the numbers of New Zealanders who have moved to Australia in the year to July. The figure is a record and the population equivalent of New Plymouth, the country’s 11th largest city.

162,000 – the number of unemployed people in New Zealand. Over 10,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in a quarter.

4,700,000,000 – the $ increase in the size of government debt in the last four years, from $8bn in 2008 to $55bn now.

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