9 May 2018

Untargeted spend achieves headlines but little else

The Government needs to think a lot smarter if it is serious about building on National’s strong record of tackling family violence, National’s Justice Spokesperson Mark Mitchell and Social Development Spokesperson Louise Upston say.

“Family violence is one of the most insidious and entrenched social issues in our country, and to break the cycle of offending we need to try new things,” Mr Mitchell says.

“That’s why in 2016 National introduced a $132 million package of reforms, which overhaul family violence laws and the way the system prevents and responds to family violence.

“On top of that, in last year’s Budget we invested $37.2 million into targeted family violence services, including the Integrated Safety Response pilot and the Gang Action Plan pilot.

“As a result of our changes, we’ve seen more people coming forward to report family violence incidents, and Police and courts taking the issue much more seriously. We don’t want to go back to the old days where people would turn a blind eye to family violence.”

Ms Upston says investing in initiatives to combat family violence has always been a priority for National but it was about ensuring that the services were targeted and had proven outcomes to ensure money was always well-spent and to maximum effectiveness.

“This was to ensure that the people who were most in need of our support got it.

“The Government’s Budget announcement today, while headline-grabbing, contains very little detail about where the money will go - other than to 150 service providers. But that’s where the lack of detail is worrying, because we can only assume that each will get a fair distribution – and on that assumption that equates to $140,000 each – so by that definition, the funding isn’t targeted and isn’t going to be spent where it’s needed the most.

“Family violence is a serious issue that we are focussed on resolving but it needs to be recognised that complex intergenerational hardship is often the cause of violence.

“That’s why it’s extremely concerning that Jacinda Ardern and her Government hasn’t committed to retaining either the Social Investment approach or the Better Public Services targets we implemented, including around reducing child harm.

“Our drive has been – and will always be – to root out the source of the problem through sophisticated data-driven risk analysis, followed up with solutions that work for the individual on a case-by-case basis. This is what changes lives and changes futures.”

ends

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