No one seems to grasp that a major reason why we are suffering (we- that is us losers who fixed at a time, like last year when rates peaked, was because that was the only way we could afford to keep paying the bloody mortgage) is that the reserve bank was then pulling hard the only lever it has - interest rates- to derail the inflation generating runaway train property boom while the Labour led govmint sat on its hands. Result = highest interest rates in the OECD. NOW, that the world is falling apart, Bollard lets the lever loose and my how those numbers fall. Lets get this straight, OWNING ONE BLOODY HOUSE THAT YOU LIVE IN IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A BLOODY GAMBLE or a property investment or a means of controlling the spending habits of others or a means of buying a boat you wouldn't normally afford. I have no answer to all this, but it seems to me that the artificially high interest rates we used to have caused the pain in the first place. This is just the damage that this broken reserve bank act generates. Family Pain

I feel for Russell, having a child with needs outside the normal spectrum brings all kinds of challenges, and when a school or the system lets your child down and you need to take him away from his peers, we know that is a decision not taken lightly. Here's to Leo..and all the other kids whose needs are not being met.