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:2356. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DENISE ROCHE (Green) 
: 
 I am asking the Committee to support this Supplementary Order Paper that is in the name of Trevor Mallard around Part 3 of the Crown Entities Reform Bill. The Greens particularly want to defer the Charities Commission from being absorbed into the Department— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: My understanding is that the Supplementary Order Paper in the name of Trevor Mallard is to clause 2 of the bill. We are on Part 3. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: No it is Part 3. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: We are on Part 3 but is there a Supplementary Order Paper? 
DENISE ROCHE 
: Yes there is. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: My apologies.  
DENISE ROCHE 
: No. 32. Can I start again? 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: The situation is that the Supplementary Order Paper applies to clause 2 but in effect it is about the commencement of Part 3. So we should actually debate it at the time of clause 2. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: May I speak to— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Yes you certainly can. I was just trying to clarify what we are doing. 
DENISE ROCHE 
: Thank you. I appreciate that. We will be opposing this part of the bill. Last night the Minister Kate Wilkinson referred to the Gambling Commission as an example of a model of a statutory board that works well despite being under the auspices of the Department of Internal Affairs and she suggested that the Charities Commission would fare just as well.  
However the two are very different beasts. The Charities Commission is a stand-alone organisation that operates separately from the Government and Government departments. Since its inception it has registered 28000 charities. It has ensured compliance and reporting and it monitors the activities of charities to make sure they are doing what they say they are going to do and to make sure that they deserve the tax exemptions that are conferred on them by virtue of the fact that they have gained charitable status.  
On the other hand the Gambling Commission is an organisation that sets the gambling levy does some regulatory work around the casinos and things like the host responsibility programme and is an appeal body for the gambling compliance unit which sits within the Department of Internal Affairs. The Charities Commission at this moment does much more than that. Its does compliance and if that function is to be lost to the Department of Internal Affairs then we are likely to see less compliance because there is a real struggle to investigate as it is.  
The Charities Commission also develops the capacity of the charitable sector. It has taken it about 6 years to develop a solid reputation and it is hugely effective in delivering information that enhances the sector. Any move to diminish the role of the Charities Commission is a great leap backwards. International charities law experts—and there were four of them from the UK Canada and Australia here last month—say that to reduce the functioning of the Charities Commission goes against all international trends. According to the chief executive of The Bishop’s Action Foundation: “The changes being proposed were premised on the mistaken belief that Government funding to charitable organisations for service provision gives it ownership of the whole sector.”  
Many in the charities and community and voluntary sector believe that this bill will result in less transparency around the charitable sector. They also think that it will mean more bureaucracy and subsequently less innovation. There are well-founded fears that removing the Charities Commission from its stand-alone status reduces its ability to be independent and will result in less understanding by the Government of the sector. We want to retain the special and effective characteristics that the Charities Commission has worked so hard to achieve over the last 6 years. The amendments that the Government is wanting to put up just will not manage that.  
The actions that are doing this are premature. The Act is still a fairly new piece of legislation and it is due for review in 2015. The terms of reference are currently being discussed. Additionally the Incorporated Societies Act is due for review. Part of that review is to plan to meet the needs of the sector in the future. In light of these changes to the Charities Commission the bill is premature.  
We need to listen to the people in the community and voluntary sector who are affected by these changes. It is a significant sector. If you include all the voluntary hours they contribute they contribute the same amount as the construction industry to the GDP of this nation and that is about 4.9 percent. According to Philanthropy New Zealand $2.67 billion—none of it from the Government; all of it from the private pockets and trusts of New Zealand—was used for charitable purposes throughout the last year. That alone adds up to 1.35 percent of our GDP.  
The move does not make sense in terms of timing it does not make sense in terms of what the sector wants and it does not make monetary sense either because we have already heard that there will be no savings if you move the Charities Commission to the Department of Internal Affairs. That is why we will be voting against it.