Funding cut to Auckland’s Combined Beneficiaries Union
July 15th, 2009 at 8:05 am by David FarrarThe Herald reports:
Auckland’s Combined Beneficiaries Union has lost its Government funding, leaving unemployed Aucklanders south of the Harbour Bridge without a state-supported advocate despite the deepening recession.
I find it amusing when I see titles such as a Beneficiaries Union. I wonder what they are going to do if they don’t get Government agreement on an issue – go on strike? 
The union’s grant of $66,000 a year was cancelled in April because of what Social Development Ministry client advocacy and review manager Zoe Griffiths said were “serious concerns with its financial management”.
She said an independent audit by Deloittes found the union showed “poor judgment in using public funds in reimbursing private expenditure”.
Sounds fair enough. Personally I am not a fan of funding such groups anyway. Don’t get me wrong I support funding community law centres who don’t get political, and just support people who need an advocate etc. But taxpayers fund a huge number of groups who then use that money to publicly lobby for even more money.
The decision means that the only two beneficiary advocates in Auckland still funded by the ministry’s $260,000-a-year Citizens Support Fund (CSF) are north of the harbour – Homebuilders Family Services in Warkworth and the Beneficiaries Advocacy and Information Service at Glenfield.
I’ve never heard of those groups and that is how it should be. they just get on with the job of assisting individuals needing an advocate. It is when such groups use their taxpayer funding to be a public lobby group that I have a problem.
No tag for this post.
July 15th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Why is the Govt paying for this? All it is doing is training far left bludgers. Look at where Comrade Sue Bradford came from.
Good work cutting it, more please.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I know much of the work done by BAIS at Glenfield. It is some years since I did some analysis but there were two startling results.
First, the North Shore has its fair share of poor areas and people who struggle just to survive.
Second, (and here my memory of detail is sketchy) this small advocacy in one year gained over $2 mil in social welfare benefits for people who were genuinely entitled to them but who had been poorly dealt with by WINS staff.
Absolutely staggering. Of course that was during the Klarkist regime.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Let me get this straight.
Part of the reason the government is going to be running enormous deficits for the foreseeable future is because it would prefer to do that than to cut funding to, amongst other things, Homebuilders Family Services in Warkworth and the Beneficiaries Advocacy and Information Service at Glenfield.
Excuse my French, but are you f***ing kidding?
Pleased that something has been cut, but for goodness sake there needs to be more.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Advocacy – no way! Information services – I do not have too much of a problem with this. From a political point of view it provides a useful safety-valve to help minimise potential disenchantment with dubious WINZ decisions. It provides genuine deserving beneficiaries a ready means of obtaining a ‘second opinion’ on WINZ decisions.
Labour looks after beneficiaries since they underpin electoral support for Labour and other left leaning parties. National while not looking after beneficiaries needs to ensure beneficiaries are treated fairly to help gain the votes of those with a social conscience. Funding external agencies to help advise beneficiaries is probably a cost effective way of achieving this.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 9:32 am
peterwn said: Advocacy – no way! Information services – I do not have too much of a problem with this.
I’ve had quite a bit to do with the Glenfield Beneficiary Advocacy and Information Service over the years. The “advocacy” in their title is individual advocacy for beneficiaries to Work and Income, taking claims from beneficiaries to Benefits Review Committees, etc. It is not political advocacy.
While I think it is fine (desirable, in fact) for organisations working with beneficiaries to engage in political advocacy, I agree they should raise the money themselves to support that activity – Government money should be fund services and infrastructure only.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 9:33 am
As Labour appear to get the most leverage out of these contributions, how about the Labour Party, and Trades Unions foot the Bill?
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Auckland’s Combined Beneficiaries Union a.k.a Young Labour Auckland.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am
time to weed out all of the NGOs that have been hanging off the state’s teat. Most of them are astroturf campaigns designed to give legitimacy to one or other of Labour’s social agendas.
Here’s a few examples
ASH and any of the so called health NGOs all funded covertly by the Ministry of Health (obesity action coalition anyone)
Jubilee Foundation and all of the “development” NGOs covertly funded by NZAID to lobby for more aid funding.
Environmental NGOs – sustainability council anyone, covertly funded to push the climate change propaganda.
If there is a role for public advocacy, you can rest assured there is some backdoor route to state funding in most of these organisations. All of them advocate more government action to “protect” us from ourselves, or the environment from us. Its all bullshit aimed at cementing in state control of how we live.
Its also a time honoured way for “community activists” to start their political careers as they learn the importance of “consciousness raising” blackmail, and advocacy for special interests.
That said, helping genuinely needy beneficiaries understand their rights is a worthwhile activity, but this is not a fine line, it is a bright distinction.
You work in the system to help individuals – yes.
You take funding from the government and use it to lobby for change to benefit your “industry”- no.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I wonder what they are going to do if they don’t get Government agreement on an issue – go on strike?
Well, they`ll probably go to work full time and won’t tell WINZ they are earning so they can collect the benefit as well. So yes, its a strike of sorts.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 11:45 am
It would be great if the government stopped funding the NZ AIDS Foundation which more about lobbying than prevent the spread of HIV. Not likely to happen with another liberal head of State.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Oh well, how sad never mind. At least these gravy suckers well know the routine when they front up to WINZ.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
The story is not fully told; DPF left out the following from The Herald article. This misuse of the money will be why the funding was ended…..
“Helen Capel, who was president of the Combined Beneficiaries Union for 10 years until 2007, said the problems at the union began in that year when she suspended long-serving advocate Mike Dark after finding that he had claimed expenses for personal services including dental work, dry cleaning and a laptop.
“He went to the board and had a meeting at his neighbour’s place, and they threw me out,” she said.
Mr Dark, who is now the union’s sole paid employee on a wage of $329 a week, said the expenses were all approved by the board and were needed for his work representing beneficiaries at benefit review committee and tribunal hearings.
“My teeth were falling out. I couldn’t work because I couldn’t afford to get my teeth done,” he said.
Board chairman Roger Brookes said the board “was always looking for a way to reimburse Mike” because he worked long hours for such minimal pay.”
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Advocacy groups, Combined Bludgers union….
All these groups have but one reason for their existence, it is to get more money from me to give to some other prick who has not had the foresight to plan ahead or has bred more fucking kids than he/she can afford.
Fuck them, no government should be funding what amounts to nothing more than left wing action groups.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
yet again I propose a Citizens Committee of volunteers like myself who will gladly give their time freely to go thru the lists of all government funded agencies etc.
We will carefully analysis the tax payer costs and benefits before we pull the plug on the funding. On all of them.
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
@gd
“I propose a Citizens Committee of volunteers like myself”
In theory, that’s called a ‘cabinet’
Vote:July 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Adolf Fiinkensein (959) Vote: 8 0 Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 8:25 am
“I know much of the work done by BAIS at Glenfield. It is some years since I did some analysis but there were two startling results.
First, the North Shore has its fair share of poor areas and people who struggle just to survive.
Second, (and here my memory of detail is sketchy) this small advocacy in one year gained over $2 mil in social welfare benefits for people who were genuinely entitled to them but who had been poorly dealt with by WINS staff.
Absolutely staggering. Of course that was during the Klarkist regime.”
So Adolf, maybe moving some Winz staff from admin duties to front line work might help with the likes of the people you describe?
Vote: