Dr Bryce Edwards: Democracy Briefing - Te Kāika and the broken model of social service contracting

In Dunedin, a charity called Te Kāika has been receiving tens of millions of dollars in government funding to provide health and social services to some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Over the past year, the Otago Daily Times has been methodically pulling back the curtain on what is going on inside this organisation. The picture is not pretty: nepotistic governance, unexplained payments to the leadership, staff fleeing in droves, government contracts unfulfilled, a youth facility shut down over abuse allegations, and a senior manager convicted of domestic violence. The Department of Internal Affairs is now investigating.

Peter Williams: The Silence After the Scoop

One of the curiosities of modern journalism is not how often stories are missed, but how often they are found, laid bare — and then quietly abandoned.

A week ago, the Otago Daily Times published what I regard as the most substantial piece of investigative journalism produced by a New Zealand newspaper this year. Across four full pages, with a front-page splash, the ODT examined allegations of serious governance and financial failings at Te Kaika, a Dunedin health hub operated by Otepoti Health Limited, a Māori health and social services trust. The sums involved run into many millions of dollars of taxpayer funding. The issues raised went to conflicts of interest, board oversight, accountability, and the blurred line between public money and private control.

Peter Williams: The Dysfunctional Maori Health Trusts

First there was the Waipareira Trust, then the Manukau Urban Maori Authority (MUMA) and now there’s Te Kaika.

They have much in common.

They’re all Maori owned and controlled health and social service providers.