"Many families are already suffering from the impact of soaring petrol prices, which is putting a high premium on the usual family running around after the kids."

"They are bracing themselves for rising prices later in the year as the fall of the dollar bites, and are still paying high interest rates."

"Each of these items has limited their choices and has left them worse off than a year ago."

"Now, there has been a further limit on their freedoms and choices with the reintroduction of rigid zoning for secondary school places and the restoration of balloting for places from today," Mr Dunne says.

Mr Dunne says each of these moves limits the opportunities of families to live their lives the way they want to.

"In the old days, when school zoning was in place, I regularly received complaints from constituents that their children could not get into the school of their choice, and seeking my assistance."

"Once zoning was removed those complaints stopped completely."

"Now that it has been restored, the complaints have started to return, and I am expecting to receive a steady stream from upset parents over the next few months."

"Coming on top of the other knocks, not to mention all the other political uncertainties, this latest interference in the rights of families to get on with their lives, has made this a long, bleak winter for many, and the idea of closing the gaps a sick joke."

"When today's economic figures showing appalling levels of growth and confidence in the major cities are added to this mix, the picture becomes much grimmer, and makes it clear the average New Zealand family will have to endure much more needless pain as the price of this Government's 'Let's leap back to the 1970s' agenda," Mr Dunne says.

ENDS