7. Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Māori Party) Link to this
to the Minister for ACC
What contracts is Te Rūpeketanga Trust currently receiving from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), and what is the total amount of contract funding being provided to Te Rūpeketanga Trust from ACC?
Hon RUTH DYSON (Acting Minister for ACC) Link to this
The trust has three contracts with ACC: the first for employment maintenance, the second for transitional job search, and the third for work-ready programmes. The contracts were effective from 24 January this year. All three are on a fee-for-service basis.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
Is it appropriate for an organisation that is only 8 weeks old to receive fee-for-service contracts, and why did ACC not have confidence in the ability of existing organisations in the health sector to administer those contracts, rather than it wasting money on setting up yet another bureaucracy?
My understanding from advice received from ACC is that the three contracts were actually transferred from a previous organisation to a new organisation, which was set up as a marae-based organisation because the previous provision of service did not attract any clients.
Louisa WallKia ora, Madam Speaker. What actions is the Labour-led Government taking to ensure that Māori are participating in accident compensation schemes?
As the House will be aware, Māori have traditionally had a low uptake of accident compensation entitlement. Our Government is taking steps under the Māori access strategy to address that, such as appointing community-based kaiāwhina to assist Māori access to the scheme by providing information on accident compensation matters; piloting six Māori community relationship organisations, again working with ACC at a local level, to promote access to the scheme; and targeting communication and resources through Māori media.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
The contract with Te Rūpeketanga Trust is for the area from New Plymouth right down to Wellington; what relationship will other Māori health providers have with Te Rūpeketanga Trust, and why has another tier of bureaucracy been added to the relationship between ACC and Māori services in implementing the Māori access strategy?
My understanding is that the trust is now marae based, which it was not previously under its former incorporation. It is working with Ngāti Ruanui Tahua Society, and is linked closely with its health clinic and primary health services, which is a good thing. But actually the trust’s contracts are not for health service provision; they are for employment maintenance, transitional job-search, and work-ready programmes.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
How concerned will the Minister be to know that a substantial amount of funding has been given to someone who provided Māori policy advice to ACC that resulted in ACC establishing these contracts with that same person, and is this another example of conflict of interest in awarding contracts?