Our mental health crisis, and the $24m questions

Gumboot Friday pocketed a significant budget boost this week, but Labour has raised concerns over transparency.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, May 24, produced in partnership with Blind Low Vision NZ.

In today’s edition: Shane Jones makes the case for mining, public sector job cuts rise, and the parliamentary f-bomb that has the speaker investigating. But first, a return to a story from earlier in the week: the government’s budget boost for Gumboot Friday.

Mike King (Image: Getty Images)

In case you missed it

The government’s budget announcement on new mental health funding was somewhat buried on Wednesday owing to the subsequent news that first home grants would be dumped. So, today we’re going to return to the subject of mental health and, as promised in yesterday’s Bulletin, look at it in a little more depth. To get you up to speed, the government this week confirmed that Budget 2024 will come with $24m for Mike King’s Gumboot Friday. It was a pledge made by National and New Zealand First in their coalition agreement, which stipulated annual support of $6m for the initiative. As reported by The Post, the new funding will go to King’s I Am Hope foundation to deliver free counselling for young people aged five to 25. King promised that none of the money would go to himself and “every single cent” would help bring onboard another 300 counsellors to add to the charity’s current pool of 555. But since the announcement was made, questions have been asked about why King’s charity was chosen.

What’s the backstory?

King, a comedian and TV personality, launched Gumboot Friday through his I Am Hope charity in 2019, the same year he was named New Zealander of the Year. It’s an initiative to help link young people with free counselling services funded through donations, with regular “Gumboot Fridays” held where people are encouraged to wear gumboots and donate a gold coin. That same year, the former Labour government unveiled a $1.9bn investment in mental health, which later attracted controversy over why it was taking so long to be spent. This in-depth report by RNZ’s Anusha Bradley looked at where that money went. King, and others, claimed the fund had been poorly managed, and he became a vocal critic of the former government and the Ministry of Health over not giving financial support to his charity. In 2021, reported the Herald, King urged the government to fund the initiative, saying he would continue fighting for the “kids [the Ministry of Health] doesn’t care about”. King returned his NZ Order of Merit for services to mental health awareness in the same year. Later in 2021, former health minister Andrew Little announced a one-off mental health fund of $1.2m that would specifically target two groups – Gumboot Friday and a suicide prevention charity for construction workers – each of which received  $600,000. 

Questions over why Gumboot Friday was chosen

In 2021, a two-part report from BusinessDesk looked at why Gumboot Friday picked up money from that one-off fund despite not qualifying for earlier financial support from the Ministry of Health. As Oliver Lewis reported at the time, government agencies – like the Ministry of Health – are required to follow strict procurement rules to ensure public money gets spent fairly. There was concern from some in the ministry, Lewis reported, that the targeted funding for Gumboot Friday may have been a result of political and media pressure. Because the $1.2m fund was a pilot programme, usual government tender processes didn’t need to be followed. In 2022, a follow-up report from Lewis revealed that a ministry executive had warned the Labour government that the optics of providing money specifically for two charities may cause “some reaction in the public arena”. Since last year’s coalition promise was made public, the question over why Gumboot Friday was chosen for a funding boost has been asked again. In parliament last month, Labour’s mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary asked minister Matt Doocey whether a “transparent process” was followed in deciding to support Gumboot Friday. Doocey, in response, said he would “expect” that to happen. King told reporters this week that his charity would be the “most transparent organisation out there”, reported The Post. Leary, however, maintained that funding the initiative in “this way” was wrong. “This diminishes trust in the public sector, erodes the confidence of other providers, pitches Gumboot Friday against other similar organisations and can distort the market to the point where other providers may pack up and go home,” she said. 

Yesterday, Stuff’s Paula Penfold reported on links between Gumboot Friday and the National Party after it emerged the current chair of I Am Hope had donated $7,000 to the party in 2023, and $20,000 in 2020. The charity’s recently departed CEO had also sought National’s candidacy in Botany (the seat now held by Christopher Luxon) in 2019. Luxon strongly rejected any conflict of interest, blaming Labour for pushing the concern. "It's outrageous and ridiculous, frankly, if the Labour Party want to make that accusation. Mental health is not something that you politicise,” the prime minister told media.

The perception of conflict

Penfold has a follow-up report this morning, focusing on the origin of a figure cited this week by Luxon, Peters and Doocey. All three said I Am Hope provided a “social return on investment” of $5.70 for every $1 invested. As Penfold reported, that figure came from a report prepared by Impact Lab, a company co-founded and chaired by ex-PM Bill English. “All roads seem to lead to the National Party,” said Labour’s Ingrid Leary. Doocey denied any conflict, telling Stuff he received a range of advice and was comfortable with the Impact Lab analysis. It’s not the only question being asked about potential conflicts this week, with the Herald’s David Fisher reporting that Act MP Todd Stephenson has investments in pharmaceutical companies while working as a private undersecretary to David Seymour, the minister with responsibility for Pharmac. Questions have also been asked about under-fire MP David MacLeod’s role on the select committee scrutinising the fast-track bill while receiving a donation from a company that may benefit from the law. The government has defended its MPs in these circumstances. As for the mental health policy, Doocey pointed to the fact it was New Zealand First policy to fund Gumboot Friday. Winston Peters called the announcement a “serious investment in a frontline service” and said the government would not be “throwing money around like an eight-armed octopus”.

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Shane Jones makes the case for mining

Resources minister Shane Jones had a big day yesterday, heading to the West Coast town of Blackball to announce plans to double New Zealand’s mineral exports in the next decade. Newshub’s report has great pictures from the announcement, including Jones with a megaphone as he speaks over protesters trying to drown him out. Interest’s Dan Brunskill broke down the announcement, with Jones describing the country’s “rich history of mining” and defending the possibility of drilling on conservation land. He promised not to touch schedule four land, like national parks or nature reserves, but environmentalists (and the opposition) remain unimpressed. Forest and Bird called the move a “love letter” to off-shore mining companies, reported RNZ.

Public sector job cuts push past 5,000

The latest round of proposed job cuts in the public sector would push the total number of disestablished roles past the 5,000 mark. The Post’s Anna Whyte has the details, reporting that the Ministry of Social Development has proposed reducing its workforce by 712 positions, which included 218 who have already accepted voluntary redundancy. The Department of Conservation also confirmed it would drop 124 roles.

When the Facts Change: An interest rate bludgeoning

The Reserve Bank has released its May monetary policy statement and, as usual, Bernard has plenty to say about it. He is joined by Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr to interpret our central bank's decisions and how they will affect Aotearoa going forward.

Click and Collect

• Sticking with the subject of first home grants that we’ve covered this week, Newshub’s Jenna Lynch reports that the housing minister is looking into a case involving a prospective homebuyer stuck in limbo after losing $10,000 from their deposit.

• The PM and finance minister have sat down for some joint interviews ahead of budget day. You can find their chat with the Herald’s Claire Trevett here and The Post’s Luke Malpass here. Both are well worth a read.

• A parliamentary f-bomb will be looked at by speaker of the house Gerry Brownlee. Last July, The Spinoff’s Gabi Lardies dived deep into Hansard for a look at our greatest greatest parliamentary insults. ‘Quigley wiggly’, anyone?

• New plan to cover transport agency funding reductions for Te Huia.

Right now on The Spinoff

Claire Mabey asks why book festivals are thriving while the publishing industry is struggling. Michael Andrew explains why he decided to buy a magazine in the middle of a media crisis. Need a side hustle in these tough times? Kristin Kelly suggests some National-approved options. Help Me Hera: Is it too late to yell at my ex? And Robyn Hunt asks what disabled people can expect in the budget.

It’s Friday, so…

Completely off topic for The Bulletin, but it’s Friday! I went out for lunch yesterday with the two experts from Married at First Sight NZ, which returns to our screens this Sunday night on Three. Given all the valid concerns and questions about reality TV, I was a bit dubious how I would find John Aiken and Jo Robertson – but they were both super interesting and really lovely. If you haven’t already, I recommend you read Alex Casey’s piece on The Spinoff about the Married at First Sight groom that just finalised his divorce after seven years. Thankfully, for the contestants anyway, this season’s cast won’t be getting legally married… Check out today’s edition of Rec Room for more on my glitzy cast lunch. And we’ll have more MAFS content on The Spinoff over the weekend.

That’s it for another week, thanks for reading. I’ll catch you back on Monday.

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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