Roche Denise: Crown Entities Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roche Denise: Crown Entities Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 23 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2382. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENISE ROCHE (Green) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to Supplementary Order Paper 32. I am very keen to see this Supplementary Order Paper go through and to see this amendment take place to the Crown Entities Reform Bill. I am not going to get into any discussion about what the name of the bill should be because I have not really given it much consideration. My mind has really been focused on the Charities Commission and how the Supplementary Order Paper would assist the community and voluntary sector to come to terms with what the Government’s desire is—to see it shift into the Department of Internal Affairs.  
When the Charities Commission was first introduced under the Charities Act I think about 5 or 6 years ago there was quite a bit of resistance I have to say in the community and voluntary sector and a bit of distrust as well. It took the sector some time to understand the merit and the worth of the commission that was set up. The role of the commission was very widely debated and it took some time for community and voluntary organisations to get themselves into a position where they registered with the commission. But over time the reputation of the commission has really settled in and it has proven its worth to the sector. What has happened is that more and more charities and community organisations have registered—I think currently 28000 have done so—and that has meant that a monitoring and compliance regime has been set up. It took time it took quite a bit of time for the sector to bed in these changes. This Supplementary Order Paper is asking for time for this sector to come to terms with the changes that the Government wants to push through.  
I also support this Supplementary Order Paper this amendment because it is an elegant solution to those feelings that are felt very deeply in the community and voluntary sector— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Thank you. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: You are welcome Trevor. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order!  
DENISE ROCHE 
: Sorry. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: What you must do is you must use the member’s full name or his title. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: Sorry. Mr Trevor Mallard the Hon Trevor Mallard. I have lost my train of thought; sorry about that.  
The reason why it is quite a big issue and an important issue to defer these changes for 3 years is not only about allowing time for transition but also allowing time for reviews. It does not strike me as terribly cost-effective—or even sane quite frankly—to hold a review of the Charities Act after you have changed it after you have changed what happened and what was intended through the Charities Act when it was first set up and when the Charities Commission was set up. So it does not strike me as a very good idea to have reviews after you have changed what is supposed to be reviewed.  
There are two reviews that are supposed to happen. One is of the Incorporated Societies Act which is currently up for review and the other is of the Charities Act which is the legislation that set up the Charities Commission in the first place and set up the roles of the Charities Commission. They need to be reviewed as well in 2015. But because of the review of the Incorporated Societies Act there is already a bit of discussion about what the terms of reference will be.  
The community and voluntary sector is hoping those terms of reference and that review will also incorporate future needs what the sector will require in the future. So if we stop now and say right we are going to change everything and put it into the Department of Internal Affairs what that does is it says that we are not going to look at the future at this time. It is a clear signal to the charities sector to the community and voluntary sector that there is a lack of caring about their future needs for building the capacity of their sector.  
In these times of austerity as well—and we have got the zero Budget coming up tomorrow—we are also looking and a responsible Government will be looking at making savings. We know that there are no cost savings associated with transferring the Charities Commission to live within with a different board arrangement the Department of Internal Affairs and that has been fairly well canvassed and it is fairly widely known. There are however costs associated with that. If we are looking at responsible Government if we are looking at good financial governance then we should be looking at making changes that actually have an impact that do make savings that are more effective and that do make the community and voluntary sector act more effectively as well.  
There is also concern about the independence of the Charities Commission once it is submerged into the Department of Internal Affairs. Whether or not that happens—and from where I sit that is certainly one of the concerns that is being voiced and it is also one of the fears that I have—we are however hearing from members on the Government side that they believe that it will not happen and we are hearing that they think there are measures in place to prevent it. But perception is everything and once you start to interfere with the independence of an organisation like this you do start to make it less effective.  
So leaving aside these changes for 3 years means there are ways that we can test whether that would actually happen. There is time to test different models for the Charities Commission to see whether they would in fact work and whether they would meet the needs of the charities and the community and voluntary sector.  
I guess I will finish up by just saying that the Greens will be supporting this Supplementary Order Paper because we think that this is what is in the best interests of the community and voluntary sector. We think this will deliver better and more transparent compliance and monitoring within the charities and the community and voluntary sector. We would really ask for the support of the members over there for this Supplementary Order Paper. Thank you.