21 April 2010

Notes from the 14 April Roundtable

Dear Colleagues, Kia ora koutou katoa,

The following are ANGOA's notes are from the 14 April Roundtable discussion re the proposed Relationship Agreement between the sector and government, and the announcement on 9 April of membership of the Kia Tutahi Standing Together Steering Group.

Following the PowerPoint presentation (attached) by OCVS Director Alasdair Finnie and Policy Advisor Judith Le Harivel, there was considerable discussion.

The first question was regarding ANGOA's "Good Intentions" report, the review of the existing Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Relationship with the Community and Voluntary Sector (SOGI). Recommendation 2 in Good Intentions is that a Treaty of Waitangi Commission be established. This was noted as an important recommendation, coming from many parts of the sector during consultation for the report. It is seen as potentially helpful to the many sector organisations who support the Treaty in concept but are unsure how to progress its implementation in their work. Alasdair replied that the proposal is not just sitting with the government agencies named in his report, progress is being made towards a larger consultation, and the drafting of proposals will not just involve those agencies - there will be genuine sector involvement in the process.

Subsequent questions focused on the process leading up to, and the implications of, the Kia Tutahi Steering Group announcement.

The issues:

• There is widespread and strong support for Minister Turia in her role as Minister for the sector, and there is warm recognition of her achievements in the role. The concerns expressed are about the process and its implications, not about any particular appointee or other individual.
• It is not that any particular person or organisation somehow has "hurt feelings" because they or their nominee were not selected. To suggest so is to miss the point and to belittle the sector. It's not about ANGOA or the Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations - it's about appropriate process and government's respectful treatment of the sector. Plus of course trying to get the best outcome!
• The reality is o the sector's independence is an essential element of a healthy democracy, and o we have our own functioning networks, built on the basis of trust and collaboration amongst independent organisations.
• The Relationship Agreement is a high level public policy commitment requiring people who are familiar with the implications and workings of policies of this nature. Generally within the sector these people are located within the national lead organisations precisely because our member organisations and organisations working at the grassroots level expect their national bodies to carry out this work on their behalf.
• For one party to the proposed Agreement (i.e. Government) to ignore these networks in its selection of who should represent us is problematic and contradictory in a whole lot of ways.
• The nomination by ANGOA, the umbrella national association of NGOs which led the review of the existing SOGI was ignored, as were nominations from NZ Council of Social Services, Volunteering NZ and the NZ Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations.
• There are sector people who have been working to improve the sector-government relationship for up to 10 years, who were involved when the SOGI was written, when the need for a review was a key item in Taskforce consultations across the country in 2007, and through the consultations in Auckland, Wellington, the Waikato and Christchurch for ANGOA's 2008-09 review. People with this experience and the requisite skills were nominated but not appointed.
• For ANGOA's report, very senior executives of a wide range of government departments were interviewed. Since buy-in by these departments to the proposed relationship agreement is essential, it is reasonable to expect that feedback from their senior executives re the existing SOGI would be a useful input to the Kia Tutahi Steering Group.
• These people know and understand the principles and could write a draft quite quickly, helping achieve government's very tight timeframe for having a new document sewn up, approved by Cabinet, and launched. There are major risks that a rushed process using people without that experience may not produce the kind of document the sector was looking for.
• Further, is there such a lack of trust in our sector by the Government that they assume they have to (and have a right to) select who will represent the sector? What kind of message does that send to the intended partner?
• It was repeated several times that this is not a criticism of the individuals appointed - it is a criticism of the fact that we were talking about working together as equals in a new relationship, and government has already undercut that principle.
• It's about government's assumptions in relation to the sector and about how partners work together, but it was not clear that this principle was understood by all in the discussion.
• Finally, the absence of Treasury, DMPC, Office of the Auditor General and SSC is a serious weakness on the government side of the Kia Tutahi Steering Group. These are the agencies which must hold government departments to account when they fail to respond to a government initiative, as was so evident from the SOGI review.

These notes are not intended as an exact record, but have been compiled by several people present to ensure they reflect the key points that were made.

Any enquiries to Dave Henderson
ANGOA Coordinator
dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz
Tel: 04 972 7708