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Dear Friend,
What has
New Zealand come to? Last week, the Whānau Ora Commissioning
Agency began a shameless political advertising campaign to push more
Māori onto the Māori electoral roll.
They've
used your money to
fund a 30 minute advert with activist Tame Iti to back Te Pāti Māori's
efforts to get Māori onto the Māori-only roll.
As many
have pointed out, this wasn't a public education campaign – it was
shameless electioneering with public funds.
But is it a
surprise? The CEO of
the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency is none other than John Tamihere:
Te Pāti Māori's Party President!
Where is the accountability?
Government
Ministers are in a hopeless position on this issue. The Whānau
Ora Commissioning Agency is totally independent from Ministerial
oversight as it's a private charity.
Being a
charity means that the Official Information Act (and the usual public
sector ethical duties of political neutrality) do not
apply.
It's also
why Whānau Ora can tell media (and taxpayers!) to 'get lost' when
questions are asked of them.
But
while it might legally be a 'private charity', its funding is not! 99
percent of Whānau Ora's funding is from
taxpayers!
According
to its most recent financial return, this John Tamihere-led agency
received $113 million from taxpayer-funded contracts.
It listed
just $1 million in 'other revenue' (which was mostly
interest).
So,
despite being 99 percent taxpayer-funded, the public, and even
Government Ministers, have almost no ability to enquire into its
operations and finances.
That is what we need to change,
Friend.
Your right to know 👨⚖️
Let's not
beat around the bush. This sort of misspending by taxpayer-funded
so-called 'charities' is rife. The Taxpayers' Union comes across it
all the time – and there is very little we can do because it is
outside the reach of freedom of information laws.
But we
have a solution: extend the Official Information Act to
not-for-profits where the non-profit is more than, say, 75 percent
funded by taxpayers. We
need your support to fund the necessary campaign to extend the
transparency law.
Earlier
today, we spoke to a Member of Parliament who has tentatively agreed
to sponsor a Member's Bill. But it's conditional on us covering the
legal fees (to have it properly drafted) as well as the necessary
research and supporting material. The idea of the Bill is simple, but
the actual execution is anything but.
I
am hoping you'll back us on this one.
Your support
will mean we can seize the opportunity and say enough is enough with
taxpayer funded 'charities' running amok with no transparency and
accountability.
Most
non-profits/charities are accountable to members and donors. But the
issue with taxpayer-funded non-profits is that they are often reliant
on government contracts, which are never tendered or
competitive.
It goes
back decades. One of the very first Taxpayers' Union stories when we
launched in 2013 was the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board putting a
Trelise Cooper dress, a wedding dress, a 21st present and even cash
withdrawals on a Te Kohanga Reo credit
card.
The
then-Education Minister demanded answers – but was told (you guessed
it!) that it was a private organisation and that it was none of her
business.
The
quid-pro-quo of non-profits being funded by taxpayers should be the
same transparency as government agencies and quangos – accountable to
the public under the Official Information
Act.
If
you agree, please make a donation to make it
happen.
This
Members' Bill would be a game-changer. But we can’t instruct the
lawyers to get to work without your support and the budget to do
so.
Thank you
for standing up for taxpayers.
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Jordan
Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union.
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P.s.
Let's stop the complaining and change the law to actually fix the
issue. If we want organisations like Whānau Ora to stop wasting money,
we need to ensure the law is changed so that transparency and
accountability are non-negotiable. Back
the cause with a secure donation so we can get to
work.
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