Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Power Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:648;Page:17190] 
7.  
SIMON POWER (National—Rangitikei) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: Does she stand by her statement that “I think family violence is being reported more often because people feel more confident to come forward and report it.”? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Justice 
: Yes because of the reported increase of 6000 offences in the violence category in 2007 5800 were family violence offences. Many of these would not have been reported but for domestic violence awareness campaigns such as the very successful It’s Not OK and the increased funding that the Government is putting into both agencies and voluntary sector support for victims. 
Simon Power 
: What confidence can victims of family violence have in reporting when an evaluation of family safety teams the Government’s flagship policy for responding to family violence by getting agencies to work together and share information has found that they are struggling precisely because the agencies involved will not collaborate or share information? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The member both in his press release exclusively to the  
Dominion Post 
 and therefore its misleading headline and in what he said today does not reflect accurately what the report states. I will quote from the conclusion of the report; this was a report a year into the implementation—it is what is called a formative report: “All three Teams had achieved some early progress but they had encountered some difficulties.”; again “Such challenges are not unexpected when implementing inter-agency collaborations.”; and thirdly “The National Steering Committee … has since developed measures to provide greater support to the Teams.” 
Louisa Wall 
: Kia ora Madam Speaker tena tatou katoa. What feedback has the Minister had from non-Government agencies closely involved with victims of domestic violence about the progress and direction of the Government’s policies on domestic violence? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Contrary to what the Opposition spokesperson suggests there has been very positive feedback from people who are actually trying to work to resolve the problem as opposed to those simply trying to make political capital out of it. Let me quote Heather Henare head of Women’s Refuge for example. She said that there is enormous support for the initiative that the member tried to rubbish in his comments that she welcomes the collaboration between agencies and that she is very happy with the direction of the initiative. Heather Henare should know; she works in the area trying to improve the situation rather than the member Mr Power who simply tries to exploit it. 
Simon Power 
: Does the Minister stand by the statement of her predecessor the Hon Phil Goff in launching the family safety team pilot on 18 July 2005 when he stated: “a lack of co-ordination and information sharing between agencies has been identified as a critical factor in high-profile domestic deaths … such as those of James Whakaruru and Saliel Aplin and Olympia Jetson.”; if so does not the same lack of collaboration outlined in this evaluation show that this policy is not getting off to the start that the Government thought it would? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: To answer the two questions: firstly the Hon Annette King always stands behind what Phil Goff whom she deeply admires has said. The second answer is that the very reason that family safety teams were set up was that there was a problem with a lack of collaboration. In a formative evaluation the ministry found at the start of the programme that that problem was still there. It has since addressed those problems and it reports that there has been very significant and positive progress. 
Te Ururoa Flavell 
: Tena koe Madam Speaker; kia ora tatou. Does the Minister agree with the Minister of Maori Affairs in his speech about a Maori response to family violence in August 2007 which ended: “Let’s invest the same energy into this critically important kaupapa as what we invest in economic development.” and what was the scale of investment in the 2008 Budget in the critically important area of kaupapa family violence? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The two things are not inconsistent. They are in fact complementary. We need economic development; that takes economic pressure off people. That is why I am very proud that this Government has achieved the highest levels of economic development and growth of any New Zealand Government in the last 30 years. Secondly I am also proud of this Government because it has invested in this area as the member knows and in the very programmes where the Opposition is now complaining about our advances on what used to be done or rather what was not done in the past when National had the opportunity and did nothing. 
Simon Power 
: Can the Minister confirm despite her alleged deep admiration for the Hon Phil Goff that the 227-page independent evaluation of family safety teams was actually completed on 31 August 2006 but was only released publicly nearly 2 years later after the ministry added a 12-page summary and only after an Official Information Act request from National; and would this report have remained “an internal working document” if it had not been so critical of Government policy? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: To the last question the answer is absolutely yes. It was if the member had chosen to listen before a formative evaluative report done right at the start of the project so that one could work out what the teething problems would be and address them. That was produced for internal consumption. It was of course made available under the Official Information Act and the member would have done well to quote accurately fully and in context from it instead of trying to make political capital out of it. 
Simon Power 
: Can she confirm that the evaluation into family safety teams found that one of the biggest problems was the turnover of members from the agencies involved as well as the delays in replacing vacant positions; if so can she confirm that things have not improved since then when a year after the evaluation one-fifth of the positions on the family safety teams were vacant and some were vacant for as long 6 months—if the Minister wants to talk about accuracy? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Yes I can confirm that and I can confirm it for two reasons. This country has had the tightest labour market that it has had in 28 years. That affects all of my portfolios with a higher level of turnover and a level of vacancies. I can also confirm that the people who work in this area—and in the area of corrections for example—do a very difficult job in trying circumstances and it would be better if that member were to try for a moment to support them instead of constantly slandering them in the efforts that they are making while he simply tries to make political capital out of those efforts.