Goodhew Jo: Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill — First Reading 
Goodhew Jo: Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:654;Page:2981] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Rangitata) 
: 
 I rise to take a brief call on the Methodist Church of New Zealand Trusts Bill—this private bill—in its first reading. I do so because at heart it seems that most members of the House are very keen to see that the Methodist Church of New Zealand is assisted in the way that this House is able to assist—in a way that can mean that the moneys that have been given benevolently to the church can be used for the purposes or very close to the purposes for which they were given. 
The bill states that its purpose is to “provide an alternative process for the variation of certain trusts relating to the Methodist Church; and widen the objects or purposes of trust funds and trust properties relating to Methodist orphanages or Methodist children’s homes.” All members of the House I suspect will know of orphanages that have been part of their own background. I remember that there was an orphanage in Temuka and each year we would go with the Jaycees to the annual fireworks display. The Jaycees would provide fireworks for the children at that orphanage. But that orphanage now has a changed purpose and it is such changed purposes that have resulted in the Methodist Church seeking to use this particular process to change the way it deals with the trust funds and trust properties it has the ability to utilise. 
I think it is most appropriate that the member opposite Brendon Burns has brought this bill to the House. My thoughts in that respect relate to the work of the Christchurch Methodist Mission—work I feel sure that he along with his and my colleague Nicky Wagner will be very aware of. That work is undertaken in the central South Island in Nelson and Marlborough and on the West Coast. The Christchurch Methodist Mission employs approximately 200 staff and it is their good work that can be put to even better effect if—or when—this bill is passed and when they can sort out their purposes and make them more appropriate to the work they undertake. 
I will mention very briefly some of that work. The mission is a registered charitable trust and as are many similar trusts in the South Island is associated with the Christchurch Council of Christian Social Services and New Zealand Christian Council of Social Services. The mission does analysis of social policy which is important work but in the community it provides such programmes as HomeLink which is a home-based goal-focused social work service that offers positive parenting skills in order to try to strengthen family relationships behaviour management skills and communications skills; works with families in partnership; and builds supportive networks. That is such important work and we should not stand in the way of it continuing. 
The mission also has a two-stage group programme called ParentWorks for parents of children aged 0 to 13 years and another programme called Wise-Up (Walk Tall Tamariki) which is an 8-week life-skills group programme for children aged 6 to 12 years and teaches self-respect self-control self-confidence and self-esteem. As members can tell from hearing of these programmes it is absolutely imperative that we parliamentarians find any way in which we can assist the mission to carry out its work and that we acknowledge that work. 
This main purpose of the bill is to provide an appropriate mechanism for varying charitable trusts of the Methodist Church “where the original objects or purposes are now”—and the following three words are important—“impossible impracticable or inexpedient to carry out and by reason of limited assets of those trusts or reasons of expense it is desirable to provide an additional means of varying those trusts other than the means provided by the Charitable Trusts Act 1957;”. The second aim of the bill is “to expand the purposes for which trustees hold trust funds or trust property for the purposes of Methodist orphanages or children’s homes due to changes in policy and law relating to the care of children and young persons.” This bill modernises the way the Methodist Church is able to do its work. Therefore I commend this bill to the House and wholeheartedly support it.