31 October 2007

Government Recognises Prominence Of Tangata Whenua, Community And Voluntary Sector In Reshuffle

Organisations in the Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary sector today congratulated the Labour-led Government for listening to the Sector by giving the Community and Voluntary Sector portfolio to a Minister inside Cabinet.

Prime Minister Helen Clark today announced in her Cabinet reshuffle that Ruth Dyson would become Minister of Social Development and Employment and Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector. She retains Senior Citizens and Disability Issues responsibilities.

Kevin Haunui, General Manager of the Funding Information Service, said Ruth Dyson had an excellent understanding of the level of professionalism within the Sector.

"She has already proved to be a fair and effective Minister in her role as Minister for Disability Issues and Senior Citizens. We are looking forward to working with her to address some of the critical issues facing the Sector," he said.

Ric Odom, Chief Executive Officer of YMCA New Zealand, said the Government is increasingly reliant on Sector organisations for core services in our communities.

"There are critical sustainability and funding issues facing the sector. Sector organisations are struggling to deliver vital services to New Zealand communities at the same time as the government has announced a bumper surplus and it is reported that they have under spent by $500 million.

"Organisations in the Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary sector are contracted by the Government to provide health and welfare services to the community but are increasingly unable to attract and retain health professionals including nurses and social workers," he said.

Andrea Goble, Chief Executive of Social Services Waikato, said Sector organisations would be looking to the Minister to address these issues.

"We will also be looking for some concrete actions in the lead up to the election to help address the anomalies that have been created in the funding and sustainability models the Government uses," she said.

Robyn Scott, Executive Director of Philanthropy New Zealand, said the appointment was acknowledgement of the value and scope of Sector.

"The portfolio has see-sawed in and out of Cabinet over the past three Parliamentary terms. The Sector has been lobbying for sometime to have the Community and Voluntary Sector portfolio inside Cabinet with a Minister who had other complementary portfolios. This announcement gives the Sector the prominence it deserves," she said.

Tim Burns, Executive Director of Volunteering New Zealand, said the Sector is worth $6.95 billion to the New Zealand economy and should always be at the Cabinet table.

Statistics New Zealand's recently released its Non-Profit Satellite Account report which measures the contribution of non-profit institutions to the New Zealand economy, including a valuation of volunteer labour given to non-profit organisations.

"The report shows that over one million (1,011,600) volunteers gave more than 270 million hours of unpaid labour to non-profit institutions in 2004. When this is valued at a market wage, the value of this voluntary labour increases the economic contribution of non-profit institutions to $6.95 billion or 4.9 percent of GDP. This is similar to the contribution of the entire construction or tourism industry," he said.

ENDS

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