Logie Jan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 18 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18620. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]12.JAN LOGIE (Green)to the Minister for Social Development: Does she stand by her statement in relation to sexual and domestic violence that “it is actually about services on the ground that are able to address it”?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development):Yes.Jan Logie: Given this focus on services on the ground will she step in to ensure that the only 24/7 specialist sexual violence service in Canterbury has the funding to remain open after Friday when it will otherwise close due to her funding decisions?Hon PAULA BENNETT: That is not correct. It is not correct that it is due to our funding decisions that it is closing. That service is currently not a Ministry of Social Development - approved provider although officials have been working with it. That is the report that I have had. We are very keen to see it stay open but at the end of the day it has to be an approved provider and it has to be financially viable for us to be doing that.Jan Logie: What is her message to the women of Canterbury who from Friday will no longer have a specialist sexual violence service to go to for help now that she has refused to fund SAFECARE?Hon PAULA BENNETT: We are not simply just refusing to fund it. There are issues with the provider that we are very keen to resolve. We will continue working with it. The member is shaking her head; she makes it sound like we do not want to fund it or that it is our desire to see it close down. Nothing could be further from the truth. When there are issues with the provider we have a responsibility accounting-wise and auditing-wise to the taxpayers of New Zealand to make sure that that funding is being used appropriately and that is what we are doing.Jan Logie: Has she consulted in that decision the police who refer four victims a day to that service and are required to refer to it when somebody reports but who after Friday will not even have a service in Canterbury to meet their protocol obligations for immediate support for victims?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I really have nothing further to add. I am being as upfront as I can. There are issues that we are very keen to resolve. The ministry is working with that provider. We would like to see it open next week but we have a responsibility to the taxpayer to make sure that we are doing that in the appropriate manner and that is what we are doing.Grant Robertson: In light of her answer to the primary question why did she and her ministry deny funding to Shakti to have a safe house for Asian African and Middle Eastern women who are victims of domestic violence in Wellington despite Housing New Zealand having found a property for it?Hon PAULA BENNETT: We are still working with Shakti. We have done a review of the Wellington region. It is working with Women’s Refuge—and not at this time because we think there is further work that needs to be done alongside the refuge but we are certainly not closing the door completely.Jan Logie: Does the fact that services are closing and are being denied funding and refuge funding cuts has meant that Palmerston North Women’s Refuge has lost one of its two safe houses three staff including all of its children’s advocates and it has had to cancel its children’s programme not just show that it is not about services on the ground at all but about saving money by short-changing women and children?Hon PAULA BENNETT: It is simply not true that it is about short-changing women and children. What I can say is that yesterday I said that women’s refuges are getting millions more under this Government than they were under Labour. Funding has increased from $11.6 million in 2007-08 to $15.3 million now in 2013-14. We put an extra $10.4 million into sexual violence services which we announced just 2 months ago which shows a real commitment to making sure that that funding is there for front-line services. We have a responsibility as well though to make sure that that funding is being spent responsibly. That is what we are doing across the board. We will support those services where we can and where it is a responsible thing to do.