Headed for the legislative wastepaper basket…
Buzz from the Beehive
It looks like this government is just as ready as its predecessor to dip into the public funds it is managing to dispense millions of dollars to finance – and favour – the parties it fancies.
Or maybe ministers are simply engaged in a programme of privatisation, diverting funds from state agencies to private operators.
It has happened twice in the past 24 hours, with mental health and with housing.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced a $24 million boost for Gumboot Friday.
Gumboot Friday, founded by mental health advocate Mike King, is promoted as “a free counselling service for any young person in New Zealand aged 25 and under”.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop had a much bigger lump of money to play with and announced the Government is investing in 1,500 more social homes.
This one comes hard on the heels of the release of a report which was highly critical of Kāinga Ora and gives us a pointer to the role of operators outside of the public sector in governmental thinking.
Bishop pointedly said Budget 2024 will allocate $140 million in new funding for 1,500 new social housing places to be provided by Community Housing Providers (CHPs), not Kāinga Ora.
The sting in the tail of this announcement is that the popular First Home Grants programme is being scrapped immediately. This will provide the readies for the 1,500 new social housing places.
Another announcement which favours private property owners is that the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill has passed its first reading.
The sales pitch is that the bill aims to improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties.
But public passions are likely to be most aroused by the debate which will be triggered by the Repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.
Karen Chhour, Minister of Children, has released a press statement to tell us the Bill which will do the repealing has been given its first reading in Parliament.
The great triumph of this statement is that it makes not one mention of “the Treaty”, because Section 7AA deals with the duties of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Latest from the Beehive
22 MAY 2024
Government invests in 1,500 more social homes
The coalition Government is investing in social housing for New Zealanders who are most in need of a warm dry home, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says.
$24 million boost for Gumboot Friday
Thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services as the Government delivers on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative.
21 MAY 2024
Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill passes first reading
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament.
Speech
Montecassino Commemorative Address, Cassino War Cemetery
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944.
First Reading – Repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill.
First reading of 7AA’s repeal: progress for children
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today.
Speech
I am delighted to see the strong turnout from across New Zealand’s business community at this China Business Summit.
The announcements of funding for non-state mental health and housing service providers are both pitched in language crafted to win plaudits.
We are told thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services thanks to the Government delivering on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative.
“Budget 2024 will provide $24 million over four years to contract the I Am Hope Foundation to provide young people aged between 5 and 25 years with free mental health counselling services through the Gumboot Friday initiative,” Mr Peters says.
“This announcement completes a commitment under the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement, and will enable Gumboot Friday to give more than 15,000 young New Zealanders to access free mental health counselling services each year.”
But the provision of $24 million of public funding attests to someone picking up the tab for services being promoted as “free”.
As to Chris Bishop, he says the government
“… is investing in social housing for New Zealanders who are most in need of a warm dry home”.
Who is going to quibble with that, as a policy objective?
But he proceeds to make plain who will not be providing the housing.
“Funding for new social housing places under the previous Government ends in June 2025. This is yet another unexpected situation that the coalition Government has had to confront,” Mr Bishop says.
“The Government’s new investment in 1,500 social housing places will start to become available from July 2025 onwards, giving the community housing sector much-needed certainty about the social housing pipeline, allowing them to plan for the future, and scale-up their build programmes.
“These new social housing places will only be allocated to CHPs, not Kāinga Ora. The Kāinga Ora independent review which reported back earlier this week shows that Kāinga Ora is not financially sustainable in its current form. Until the Government has received and approved the turnaround plan demanded of the refreshed board, no further funding will be budgeted for the organisation to deliver additional social housing places.”
Karen Chhour, announcing the first reading of the Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, said it reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care.
“Removing Section 7AA from the Act reinforces the need to put the safety of the child first,” says Ms Chhour.
“I believe Section 7AA has placed some duties on the chief executive that are at odds with the agency’s primary purpose, which is to support the wellbeing of our most vulnerable and at-risk children.
“If we truly see our children as taonga, let’s start treating them like they’re precious, because right now, many children in this country are being treated like a piece of furniture that gets passed around from place to place until they’re broken beyond repair, with no care for their rights or needs, and this needs to stop.”
The Social Services and Community Committee will consider the Bill.
Point of Order 