What’s new? A social agency with an emphasis on “investment” instead of “wellbeing” – but (psst!) we have had one of these before
A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency.
As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what works for those people and how to measure progress.
But wait.
What’s new?
The Social Investment Agency was established by the Fifth National Government on July 1, 2017.
Then there was a change of government and “investment” – which suggests a focus on financial considerations – would never do for Jacinda Ardern and her team of nanny statists . The Social Investment Agency accordingly became the Social Wellbeing Agency early in 2020.
It still has that name – but not for much longer.
Last year the Nats were returned to office with ACT and New Zealand First as coalition partners and – guess what?
Yep. This lot gags on words like “wellbeing” and hankered to get back to “investment”.
And today Finance Minister Nicola Willis – correction, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis – announced a new standalone Social Investment Agency which
… will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders.
This news was included in a pre-Budget speech delivered to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The speech was posted on the government’s official website along with the announcement from Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston that Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with ministry officials within two weeks of their benefits starting to determine their next step towards finding a job.
The Social Investment Agency was established by the Fifth National Government on July 1, 2017.
Then there was a change of government and “investment” – which suggests a focus on financial considerations – would never do for Jacinda Ardern and her team of nanny statists . The Social Investment Agency accordingly became the Social Wellbeing Agency early in 2020.
It still has that name – but not for much longer.
Last year the Nats were returned to office with ACT and New Zealand First as coalition partners and – guess what?
Yep. This lot gags on words like “wellbeing” and hankered to get back to “investment”.
And today Finance Minister Nicola Willis – correction, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis – announced a new standalone Social Investment Agency which
… will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders.
This news was included in a pre-Budget speech delivered to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The speech was posted on the government’s official website along with the announcement from Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston that Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with ministry officials within two weeks of their benefits starting to determine their next step towards finding a job.
Latest from the Beehive
9 MAY 2024
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says.
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says.
Speech
Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget.
8 MAY 2024
Speech
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In her speech to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, Nicola Willis said that in preparing her first Budget, the people foremost in her mind had been those she called the ‘squeezed middle’.
She defined these as:
The everyday Kiwis who’ve soldiered on through a prolonged cost of living crisis, who work hard and yet experience a seemingly endless struggle to get ahead, who worry about your mortgage and the unexpected bill, and yet don’t ask much from the Government – you want decent health services, good schools, law and order and a fair go.
Too many had been given a raw deal “in recent times” (which – we may suppose – means under a Labour government)
Workers have endured 14 years without any adjustment to tax brackets. For a median income worker that’s meant the average tax you pay has increased from around 15% in 2011 to around 21% today.
These tax increases helped fund a massive government spending-spree, with costs up 80 per cent in just six years. Yet even with these record levels of government spending, you’ve watched health waiting lists grow, educational achievement drop and violent crime soar.
Everyday New Zealand workers have been left to wait in line while beneficiaries, government agencies and consultants got a boost.
The economic situation had been tough, too, for employers and businesspeople and for the government books: the coalition inherited a structural deficit, with government spending running far ahead of what New Zealand could afford, and in recent months there had been significant downgrades in the country’s growth forecasts.
Accordingly Willis promised a Budget that will prioritise targeted new spending for essential frontline services.
You can expect a significant funding boost for the health system and targeted new investment in other essential frontline services including education, disability services and Police.
Our approach is about more than new money. The investments we make will be resolutely focused on frontline service delivery, putting money where it will deliver results that matter for you.
Willis further stuck by her promise that the Budget will deliver further tax relief.
Its focus will be income tax relief aimed at middle and lower-income workers. The relief will be meaningful, but modest.
She announced the tax relief package will increase the take-home income of 83 percent of New Zealanders over the age of 15 and 94 percent of households.
Lower taxes will be delivered for low and middle-income families, by fully-funding them with a package of careful savings and targeted revenue measures.
Willis emphasised:
- Tax relief will be funded from within the operating allowance through a mixture of savings, reprioritisation, and additional revenue sources. Funding the tax package will not add to net core Crown debt.
- Treasury modelling indicates that fiscally neutral tax relief – financed through reduced government consumption – reduces inflationary pressure and nominal interest rates. This is mainly because there is generally a lower multiplier on tax relief than for general government consumption. This means the decision to fund tax relief in the Budget will not add to inflation.
As to replacing the Social Wellbeing Agency, Willis said the government will establish a Social Investment Fund as a vehicle for future social investments, to be managed by the Social Investment Agency, with a brief “to directly commission outcomes for vulnerable New Zealanders, and to work with community, non-government organisations and iwi providers”.
The fund will begin investing in 2025.
Over time Willis expects the fund to grow in partnership with other funders to deliver at scale with a wide portfolio of investments.
The government will establish a Social Investment Board made up of “real-world experts” who will provide external challenge and guidance.
Willis explained in her press statement:
“Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for all New Zealanders.
“We can see the lack of appropriate support for our most vulnerable reflected in rises in welfare dependency, declining school attendance and achievement, poorer health outcomes, rising rates of youth and violent crime, rising gang membership, ongoing dependence on statutory services such as Oranga Tamariki and Police, as well as increasing rates of inequality.”
What was the aim of the Social Wellbeing Agency which the new agency will replace?
According to Labour’s Social Development Minister, Carmel Sepuloni in February 2020, the Ardern government was taking a new approach “that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing”.
“Under the previous Government people were being treated as a fiscal liability, so we made the conscious decision to change that.
[…]
“The new approach delivers on a people-focused model of looking at people and their needs because data is just one snapshot of people’s lives. We improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders by taking into account lived experiences – people are more than just numbers.”
Government agencies were expected to look at the wider impact on people when making decisions about services they provided.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
Government agencies were expected to look at the wider impact on people when making decisions about services they provided.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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