PM John Key Promises To Buy A Whole New Zealand School’s Lunch For A Year [VIDEO]

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has attracted criticism for claiming that Aborigines living in remote communities were making a “lifestyle choice.” His remark sparked anger among Australia’s Aboriginal leaders who declared their ties to the land went back about 40,000 years. IN PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) and New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key smile as they attend the Cricket World Cup match between the two countries, at Eden Park in Auckland February 28, 2015. Abbott is on his first official visit to New Zealand. REUTERS/David White/Pool

John Key has pledged to use his own money to buy schoolchildren lunch for a year if the quoted child poverty statistics were true. The New Zealand prime minister couldn’t believe Greens co-leader Metiria Turei when she insisted that 90 percent of children go to school without lunch.

On Wednesday, Turei told Parliament that according to child poverty charity KidsCan, there are a staggering high percentage of children who couldn’t afford to have lunch at school. She wanted the PM and National Party leader to commit to the cross-party agreement “Feed the Kids” bill, which aims to provide food in schools.

Mr Key didn’t agree, saying the vast majority of kids are fed by their parents. The government also already supports the Breakfast in Schools program for approximately 2000 schools in New Zealand. He also didn’t agree with the figure quoted by Turei from KidsCan, which claimed an average of 23 percent up to 90 percent of kids in schools go without lunch every day.

“I hate to tell the member but I reckon I’ve been to way more schools that she ever had. I’m a prolific visitor to schools in the seven years I’ve been prime minister. Tell you what, in the 500-odd schools I’ve been to, if 90 percent of them didn’t have lunch, I’d be pretty surprised. I’ve seen a lot of them munching their way through lots and lots of lunches,” Mr Key declared.

“If the member wants to come with me to a school, and I’d name the school, and 90 percent of them don’t have lunch, I’d personally will buy them lunch for a whole year,” he challenged Turei. The MP accepted his offer.

There’s no word on when will they visit a school yet. Mr Key also hasn’t named what school they will go to.