95bFM ‘Underfunding is not the same as overspending’ — Disability advocate criticises the restructuring of Whaikaha
27 August, 2024
Interview by Joel Armstrong, adapted by Oto Sequeira
CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN), Peter Reynolds, says the government’s restructuring of Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People, demonstrates “inadequate consultation with the sector”.
Last week, the government announced it would be restructuring Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People.
The restructuring of Whaikaha will result in delivery support services being transferred to the Ministry of Social Development, which could result in a number of job cuts to the agency.
Whaikaha will instead act as a standalone department, focusing on advocacy and policy advice.
This move follows an independent review by top public servant, Maarten Wevers, which found the ministry’s delivery of services to be inconsistent, and suffered from inadequate budgetary control and overspending.
CEO of the New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN), Peter Reynolds, told 95bFM’s The Wire that the transfer of support services to the Ministry of Social Development could limit the care disabled people receive.
“[The Whaikaha operations unit will be] subject to much more stringent controls than have been experienced before.”
“Disabled people can expect cuts. Not everyone will have their support services cut, but a number will, and there’ll be limits on how far those support services are able to go.”
He says the government did not adequately engage with disabled people before making the proposal and failed to meet with organisations like NZDSN while conducting its initial review of Whaikaha.
“[NZDSN] fought for the opportunity to address the panel, raise issues, and provide [the government] with evidence about where disability support services are going.”
“We never got there, and reading the report, it demonstrates clearly that inadequate consultation with the sector is a feature.”
Minister for Social Development, Louise Upston, who commissioned the review, says restructuring Whaikaha was necessary, as the organisation suffered from unsustainable financial management, and that their projected overspend of almost $150 million this year required “urgent action” to address their challenges and deliver better outcomes for disabled people.
However, Reynolds said that disability support services in Aotearoa have lacked necessary resources for some time and that restructuring Whaikaha is not the correct way to provide better support services for disabled people.
“The report was done in a rush by the government who feared the overspending in disability services was getting way out of control — they felt they had to act very quickly.”
“From our perspective, the fundamental issue with this whole argument is that underfunding is not the same thing as overspending. The government claims the system is overspent, we’ve claimed for decades it’s been underfunded.”
