Nisbet, Alastair, 1958- :"Free school food is great! Eases our poverty, and puts something in you kids' bellies!". 30 May 2013

Shows a large mixed-race family seated around a table surrounded by cigarettes, beer, gambling forms, and expensive technology. The father says that "Free school food is great! Eases our poverty, and puts something in you kids' bellies!" Wider context refers to the introduction of a free breakfast scheme in New Zealand schools. The cartoon suggests that there are families who spend their discretionary income on cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and expensive 'unnecessary' technology, with the implication that they will abuse the scheme to allow them to spend more on what are perceived as inessential items.

This cartoon sparked considerable controversy following its publication in the Press on 30 May 2013. Along with a cartoon published in the Marlborough Express on a similar theme (see DCDL-0025131) it was widely criticised. A complaint was laid to the Human Rights Commissioner, who stated that it did not meet the threshold for discrimination, although commissioner Dame Susan Devoy called it racist, offensive, appalling and noted that it stigmatised 'certain populations' and those who lived in poverty. Coverage was extensive and included, for example, coverage on Campbell Live, articles in the Marlborough Express, the Press and the Herald on 31 May. The cartoonist's response was published in the Dominion Post on 4 June 2013 and both the Press and the Marlborough Express defended Nisbet's right to express his opinion. The cartoons were also the subject of an extended Media Watch programme on Radio New Zealand.

Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).