Flavell Te Ururoa: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:659;Page:8407] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou e te Whare. Tena koe Mr Speaker. I am pleased to take a call on the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill. I congratulate Amy Adams on putting the bill forward; ka nui te mihi. There is an old saying by a great Te Arawa person that goes something like this: charity begins at home. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I thought it was Hone Harawira. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: That one is: charity stays at home. I absolutely agree that it is along the lines of recognising that famous saying from that famous Te Arawa person that ultimately charity manaakitanga demonstrated through the expression of aroha hospitality generosity and mutual respect is an important part of the New Zealand culture. It is also about whanaungatanga: understanding our interdependence with each other and recognising that people are our wealth. It is about kotahitanga: doing our bit to contribute to the collective well-being. 
The acts of charity that this bill addresses are however outside of the home. We are instead talking about the small to medium sized organisations that tend to employ third-party fund-raising professionals. We are talking about Barnardos New Zealand with a total income of $53 million coming in from general donations and another $53 million from parental contributions. We are talking about Plunket with an income for core child health services close to $39 million. We are talking about St John Ambulance with revenue of up to $150 million from the rendering of services with an additional $19 million from donations bequests and grants. These are just three of over 23000 charities registered with the Charities Commission. These are sizable amounts of funding that we are talking about and as such we believe it is essential that the public has confidence in the transparency and the accountability of the charitable organisations they support. 
Other speakers have already mentioned that the bill is a response to the recent media interest in charities where a significant amount of fund-raised income has been spent on the fund-raisers. Basically the bill requires professional third-party collectors to disclose to potential donors that a proportion of the donation will be retained by the collector. This as other speakers have said applies only if the proportion retained is more than 20 percent. 
The hub of the issue for the Maori Party is that although the proposed amendment to the Fair Trading Act may be helpful and would provide some transparency it does not assist donors to distinguish between different types of fund-raising and the associated costs or require disclosure from charities that employ fund-raisers. Most important we in the Maori Party believe that the bill is premature. We have of course had the privilege of being able to consult the very fine Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector— 
Amy Adams 
: Excellent Minister. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: —an excellent Minister from an excellent party—about this bill. We have become aware of the capability— 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: She’s not Labour. 
TE URUROA FLAVELL 
: Thank goodness! We have become aware of the capability and awareness within the fund-raising sector itself and that there are some legitimate issues about the regulation of the sector from within. As I said we have been fortunate to have input from a fine Minister. 
We know too that the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand is currently drafting industry standards for its members to supplement its existing codes of ethics and conduct and these are very positive steps. Having standards in place will help to set firm guidelines for fund-raisers and the public about what is acceptable practice. We hope that as a result of such a move we are likely to see improved practice and the restoration of donor confidence. 
There is however a risk that although the cost of compliance might be minor some fund-raisers might not be prepared to continue to fund-raise for charities and that is a big concern for us. The groups I referred to before and the 23000 other groups do not deserve to be punished by one bad apple in the bag. Quite to the contrary we should all be doing what we can to support those vital services that are in many respects the heart-line of our communities. 
The Maori Party is prepared to let this bill go to the Commerce Committee to hear what the community and the voluntary sector have to say about it. But we do so I have to say with some reluctance. The last thing we want is to pile even more work on to a sector that is already flooded with more than enough paperwork to deal with. We have confidence in both the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and in the sector itself that financial reporting requirements are seriously under review. However consistent with our commitment to letting the public have a say we will vote for the bill today.