Jazmine Heka grabs politicians' attention | Northland News | Local News in Northland

When Jazmine Heka saw a television documentary on New Zealand child poverty she was shocked, and deeply concerned for the future of young people in her country.

Bryan Bruce's Inside Child Poverty outlined how childhood poverty and its associated diseases not only compromised individuals' and whole communities' health and future, it put a huge social and health financial burden on all New Zealanders.

It screened in November and Jazmine, 16, a Whangarei Girls' High School student, decided to do something about it. She also realised she was one of the children of the documentary. "I related to that documentary. I grew up in a cold, damp state house and I was always sick as a child, but we didn't realise why. Our houses should be safe for children."

Jazmine took it upon herself to meet the documentary maker, Northland representatives of Child Poverty Action Group and other health campaigners. She then organised three related petitions calling for the Government to provide free, healthy lunches to all schoolchildren, free healthcare to all children, and the introduction a "warrant of fitness" for all rental properties. Green Party housing spokeswoman Holly Walker, a Wellington list MP, visited the teenager whose campaign she described as "inspiring". "She has the Green Party's wholehearted support, but this is Jazmine's campaign," Ms Walker said.

"What's really great about having this happen is that it elevates it above politics and party grandstanding and highlights it as a moral issue we should all be working on.

"But yes, Jazmine's right, the Government needs to take the matter seriously on board."