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| Whiringa-ā-nuku | October Our monthly newsletter serves as a platform to connect the mahi of our team with insights from our policy groups, wider membership, and sector relationships. Through this lens, we aim to highlight how these combined efforts shape policy and influence decision-making. Each issue is structured around our four primary focus areas: Tō Tātou Rāngai | Our Sector Kaumātua | Older People Tamariki | Children Ōritetanga me te whakaurunga | Equity & Inclusion In the Kaumātua, Tamariki, and Ōritetanga me te whakaurunga sections, updates will align with the following themes: Threads in Action: Current Highlights. Key updates on impactful initiatives and accomplishments relevant to our members and sector. Weaving New Patterns: What Lies Ahead. A preview of upcoming projects and areas for potential engagement. Interwoven Impacts: Reflecting on Influence. Insight into how past work has contributed to broader sector outcomes. As always, we welcome your feedback and thank you for your continued commitment to this work.  One Year On: Reflecting on the Pace of Change and Coalition Influence in Aotearoa’s GovernmentAs we pass the anniversary of the election, we look back at the past twelve months, what has happened and what we expect may happen over the remainder of the 54th Parliament. It has now been a little over a year since New Zealanders voted for a change in government. Parliament opened on the 1st December 2023, marking the fourth government in New Zealand history with a coalition of more than two parties. The use of urgency One of the biggest observations we’ve made over the past twelve months has been the speed at which policy is being implemented, with many bills being repealed or amended under urgency. Urgency is used to pass legislation quickly. It is intended to be an option that is used rarely and with a strong rationale. Usually, a bill cannot go through more than one stage in a single sitting day, but urgency can reduce or remove wait times between stages of the process and allow bills to be passed more quickly. Urgency can apply to all steps of a bill (from introduction through to the third and final reading) or set stages of the process (for example the bill may be sent to select committee under urgency or the third reading completed under urgency). In some cases, the select committee stage is skipped in its entirety meaning there is no opportunity for feedback from organisations or the public. In the past twelve months this has been the case for 21 bills with all stages under urgency (no select committee stage). A further 25 bills have had some, but not all stages completed under urgency. Limited Time for Feedback: Impact on Public Participation Even when submissions have been welcomed the time frame to provide feedback has been short. In some instances, this has hindered our ability to have full discussions with relevant stakeholders before providing feedback. Examples of these short timeframes include the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill and the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) which had timeframes of 4 and 8 working days for submission respectively. The justification for urgency by the government has in some cases been that they have the mandate to do this. However, this justification seems to go against proper democratic process. In most instances a government is not voted in on one individual policy alone and as such people should have both the right to provide feedback and sufficient time to do so. The political makeup of the coalition and contribution to the policies being passed makes this additionally important. The Act party who received 8.64% of the total vote have been responsible for 17.1% of the total bills passed in the last 12 months (all of which had at least some stage completed under urgency). Coalition Power: Influence Beyond the Vote The un-contested influence that coalition parties are having over law reform in Aotearoa is further highlighted by the Nicole McKees actions earlier this year regarding regulation for gun clubs. McKee, the Associate Minister of Justice and a former gun lobbyist used her position to make changes to regulation for gun clubs without any public consultation. The law change, which was executed through an “order in council” came into effect in June and raised alarms with the Ministry of Justice who highlighted the lack of consideration of impact on public safety. Looking Ahead: Scrutiny Weeks and Future Engagement We have the second scrutiny week to look forward to in the next two months. Scrutiny weeks were introduced in 2023 to allow select committees sufficient time to scrutinise the activities of the government. The first scrutiny week took place in June and followed budget week allowing ministers to be questioned about spending and policy plans. Round 2 of scrutiny week will be available to view on parliaments website in the first week of December. With the increase in pace, we are pleased to be seeing more opportunities to engage and find ways to connect and share member voices. We also note that within the delivery of the coalition agreement promises, is the promise made to the sector to review the oversight system, led by Minister Upston’s office and we look forward to seeing more about this in the coming months. Interwoven Impacts: Tracing our InfluenceWe were excited to be present at the Church Governance Conference in Te Whanganui-a-Tara in August and hear about some of the aspects of governance that are on-top for the faith-based sector. The Faith in Action report, launched during this conference series, provides some great data and insights into how the sector is performing. Our team were pleased to participate in consultation to shape the report’s development earlier this year.  Threads in Action: Reviewing Government Policy for Structural Ageism Following on from our presentation at NZAG, we presented a recording of our analysis of Structural Ageism in Aotearoa in honour of International Older Persons Day (October 1st). We are looking forward to following on from our review by contacting each of the assessed government entities with their score card and an offer to engage on this important topic. We look forward to hearing back from both those who did well and those who need work in ensuring that there is a strong awareness in both kawa and tikanga at a structural level regarding older people. Click to Watch the Structural Ageism Analysis Weaving New Patterns: Upcoming Long-Term Insights Briefing The Ministry of Social Development is producing a Long-Term Insights Briefing, with the proposed topic for 2025 being “Current and Future Disadvantage for Older New Zealanders”. We are looking forward to ensuring the voice of our membership is integrated into this work and encourage individual organisations to provide their unique feedback. Click to view fullscreen PDF Interwoven Impacts: Tracing Our Influence We welcome the release of the recommendations from the Retirement Villages Act Review. We engaged with the consultation on this review in November last year. Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka and Minister for Seniors Casey Costello have announced that updating the Act to bring it in line with sector best practice will now progress, with capital sum repayments being one of three priority subject areas. Any Amendment Bill that is the result of these recommendations is unlikely until the next parliamentary term, but we will be watching this closely and contributing wherever possible. We continue to wait for the response from the Aged Care Review facilitated by the Ageing Well team within Te Whatu Ora. The themes from the nationwide in person and online engagement are due to be released soon, as well as next steps for the system-wide review. This work will have an enormous impact on the way the sector functions and we look forward to this becoming more visible as the review concludes.  Threads in Action: Prioritising Middle ChildhoodWe have identified middle childhood as a gap in the government’s policy focus, which is heavily directed towards the early years and youth populations. This gap has been persistent over a number of decades and governments. Our report Te Kōrero mō ngā Tamariki explores the context of middle childhood (ages 5-12) in Aotearoa and provides a summary, through the lens of Te Whariki, of what children in this age stage need. We advocate for increased focus on this age stage which provides a window of opportunity to invest in improved outcomes for children. Potential opportunities within this age stage include: Many of those working with children will have had little to no training in child development, or what was learnt (including recently) will have been out of date. The section of this report focused on Kotahitanga | Holistic Development shares what we learned about this age stage. Increased monitoring and measurement of wellbeing within this age stage. We are monitoring the visibility of children within government reporting as legislative change occurs. If we wish to see children well-supported, it’s crucial that we have good information to support decision-making. Increased access to support services for this age stage to enable earlier intervention. Increased focus on play during middle childhood Greater understanding and accountability for children’s rights Greater investment in parent education and support specific to this age stage Interested in having Mel present to your team or at one of your events? Mel Wilson is the lead author and senior policy analyst responsible for our Children’s portfolio. She is available to present on Te Kōrero mō ngā Tamariki | Exploring the context of middle childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand to your team or at your events.This month she is presenting insights from the report to the paediatric team at the Taranaki Health Board Please email [email protected] to explore her availability. Weaving New Patterns: We would love your input on our upcoming Children’s PlanAs a continuation of Te Kōrero mō ngā Tamariki | Exploring the context of middle childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand we are working to develop a Children’s Plan focused on middle childhood. We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences of what matters for this age group and where there are opportunities to improve children’s wellbeing.  Threads in Action: Petitions As part of our September policy group meeting, we had the pleasure of attending a talk with the Petitions Office to discuss how we can utilise petitions as part of future work. The Petitions Office suggested petitions may provide an exciting opportunity to take a more proactive approach to upcoming issues. We are currently assessing potential topics and opportunities for petitions, so watch this space! Learn more through Parliament’s Petitions Committee homepage Weaving New Patterns: What’s on the horizon? Policy Tracker We have completed the first version of our internal policy tracker, mapping the current governments promises made via coalition agreements and stated election policy. This tool will help us to be well prepared as policy and legislation rolls out, ensuring that we are ready to also support the membership to engage This is particularly important with the coalitions current push to rush through policy changes. Draft Suicide Prevention Plan for 2025-2029 Later this month we will be submitting our feedback on the Draft Suicide Prevention Action Plan for 2025-2029. This is a great opportunity to suggest some areas that the strategy is currently not covering or areas that are not covered sufficiently. We would love to hear from you if you would like to provide feedback you think should be included. |
| Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4 (NIV) |
22 October, 2024
Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Whiringa-ā-nuku
The October edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Hakihea
The December edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
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Te Raranaga Kaupapa Here – Whiringa-ā-rangi
The November edition of our Weaving Policy newsletter
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Te Raranga Kaupapa Here – Mahuru
The first edition of our new-format newsletter, Weaving Policy, released in September 2024
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