The Poverty Committee of Wellington archdiocese’s Commission for Ecology, Justice and Peace, Auckland diocese’s Justice and Peace Commission, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand and Wellington-based youth development agency Challenge 2000 were among groups that made submissions to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on the Government’s Budget Policy Statement 2000.

All these agencies expressed broad support for the statement’s goals to ensure a just transition to a low-emissions economy, reduce child poverty and improve child well-being, lift Māori and Pasifika incomes and opportunities, and improve physical and mental well-being.

But all of the agencies called for action to better provide for those on income support and those on low incomes in this country.

The Wellington archdiocese committee welcomed steps taken to adjust the accommodation supplement and Working for Families, as well as the introduction of the Best Start tax credit, the pilot food in schools programme and the Winter Energy payment.

But it expressed concern that “Budget 2020 does not yet address the most significant recommendations of the Government’s own Welfare Expert Advisory Group”.

The Wellington committee submission pointed to the engagement with people on income support by Church personnel at Benefit Impact events in the archdiocese. It was evident that many people on income support struggle with the complexity of the welfare system, with its many different tiers and avenues of support.

The submission stated that the “entrenched disadvantage faced by many of New Zealand’s poorest citizens needs to be resolved through systemic change of the welfare system, rather than through targeted or one-off programmes”.

“The fundamental issue is that benefit rates are simply too low to cover basic living expenses, leaving beneficiaries to seek tightly targeted supplementary assistance.

“Significant amounts of time and effort are spent administering second and third tier assistance at the margins, which is not only frustrating and difficult for vulnerable New Zealanders, but is an inefficient use of public and community resources.”

The submission called for the implementation of the Welfare Advisory Group’s recommendation 19, whereby main benefits should cover a larger proportion of people’s living costs than they do currently (reducing reliance on other assistance) and that the income support system proactively supports people to access their full and correct entitlements and promotes these entitlements to the broader population.

“Until these matters are addressed, significant amounts of public and community time will continue to be tied up in addressing entitlements at the margins,” the Wellington committee stated.

Challenge 2000 made similar points, stating that its submission was based on “our experience of working with some of the most disadvantaged, poorest citizens in our country”.

It referred to people on income support as “the poorest, most disadvantaged and marginalised in our community”.

Challenge 2000 stated that The Budget Policy Statement 2020 does not sufficiently prioritise the needs of such people.

“There are two basic problems,” the submission stated. “One of the problems is that basic benefit rates are too low to cover basic living expenses. The other is that the income support system is not user-friendly. This means that people on benefits struggle, and do not experience the income support system as one that treats them with dignity.”

“Specifically we recommend that the priority for this Budget should be to ensure it implements the recommendations in the Welfare Advisory Group report, especially those that focus on reforming the income support system and those that provide people with low incomes with significantly more than they currently receive.”

The Auckland Justice and Peace commission’s submission called for action to improve “the well-being of all families by enabling them to have a decent income to support themselves”.

This is achieved by increasing the base benefit for families in line with accumulated inflation; continuing to increase the minimum wage; committing to negotiate with Government contractors to ensure their employees are paid the Living Wage; establishing a Social Welfare Commission to ensure all families can access the assistance they are entitled to in times of need.

The Auckland commission submission continued: “It is time to redress the injustice of the 1991 slashing of base rates of Social Welfare payments to some of our most vulnerable families that has led to decades of intergeneration[al] poverty as identified by the Social Welfare Expert Advisory Report.

“Implementing recommendation 20 of this report would enable so many families to support themselves with dignity and start New Zealand on the road to reverse the march of child poverty that is so unnecessarily blighting so many lives.”

(Recommendation 20 called for increasing main benefits by between 12 per cent and 47 per cent as well as increasing the abatement thresholds for Jobseeker Support to $150 a week, and for Sole Parent Support and Supported Living Payment to $150 a week and $250 a week, respectively.)

The Caritas submission stated that “overcoming poverty demands a holistic approach which provides higher incomes that cover New Zealand’s high cost of living; affordable housing; and a ‘joined-up’ approach to education, training and employment which fosters movement towards lifelong education, participation and meaningful work”.

The submission pointed to 2017 research by the Child Poverty Monitor that found that 290,000 New Zealand children — around 27 per cent of kids — were living in income poverty.

It also called for increases to the minimum wage and cracking down on predatory lending.

Housing

Auckland’s Justice and Peace Commission urged the Government to reduce child poverty and increase child well-being by including in the 2020 Budget sufficient funds, firstly to build new public housing for the 14,000 families now on the waiting list, and secondly to investigate and implement the use of Crown-leased land and shared equity and rent-to-buy schemes so as to make private housing more affordable to purchase.

“We welcome the Government’s intention to ensure every family has a warm home, good health care, education opportunity and an adequate family income and it is important that these intentions be explicitly reflected in the Government’s budget priorities,” the submission stated.

“So it is disappointing that these do not explicitly mention housing or the key priority of the Social Welfare Expert Advisory Group to lift basic benefit levels.

“If these major issues of our time are not urgently addressed it is hard to see how the 2020 Budget could be seen as authentically protecting and supporting the poorest and most vulnerable in society so they are able to genuinely participate in building a decent society for all.”

Caritas stated it particularly supported expanding Housing First to tackle homelessness, including delivering additional public and transitional housing.

“We want to see urgent action to see a substantial increase in the number of houses being constructed. This will require not only increased funding, faster and less arduous consenting processes and increased availability of qualified builders, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. Trade training and long-term planned investment to deliver a much larger number of qualified and experienced builders will be essential if the Government is to have any hope of fulfilling its promises on housing,” the Caritas submission stated.

Some of the other topics discussed in one or more of the Catholic agency submissions were transitioning to a net zero-carbon emission economy by 2050, public transport, infrastructure investment, health, lifting Māori and Pasifika incomes, skills and opportunities and costs of GP visits.

The submissions were made before publicity on the Government move to index benefits to the average wage, rather than the inflation rate. They were also before the latest child poverty statistics were released, showing little change in recent years.

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Cardinal Dew had earlier cited increasing insurance cost and declining number of priests as reasons for the need to reorganise the archdiocese.

Parishes were asked to review how many churches are needed — and where they should best be located — to cater for Mass counts, taking into account availability of priests and lay pastoral leaders.

Over the next few months, all the documents submitted from the parishes of the archdiocese will be reviewed.

Cardinal Dew advised that, when he considers proposals, he will not be making a decisions to “approve” them.

“My response to a proposal will be expressed as ‘no objection’, ‘further
work needed’ or ‘opposed’. It is the parish’s decision to actually proceed with a proposal if I have no objection. Once the parish decides to proceed, its decisions are subject to the archdiocesan norms and approval processes.”

Some parishes presented clear cut proposals, while others gave the cardinal
options from which to choose. Neighbouring parishes consulted with each other on the possibility of amalgamation.

The Lower Hutt parishes of Holy Spirit — Te Wairua Tapu (Eastbourne, Petone, Wainuiomata and Waiwhetu) and Te Awakairangi (Lower Hutt, Avalon, Naenae, Taita) put in separate proposals (with eight and seven suggestions, respectively) that had some commonalities.

Both suggested an option of a major Catholic community and church hub in Taita, where St Michael’s church is currently situated. This would include either new accommodation units for priests or a central presbytery.

They also agreed that properties in Avalon should be sold.

The two parishes suggested the property in Naenae be retained, at least in part in one case. Te Wairua Tapu parish suggested it be developed as an outreach centre. Te Awakairangi suggested subdividing the presbytery and its land in Naenae, and using sale proceeds to renovate St Bernadette’s church.

For St Peter and Paul church and buildings in Lower Hutt, Te Awakairangi
proposed demolishing the existing presbytery and using the space for more parking.

Te Wairua Tapu suggested that the St Peter and Paul church and buildings be a central location for youth and community with a chapel.

There were further suggestions about some other church buildings in the two parishes.

The Holy Family parish in Nelson is leaning towards either a status quo or
amalgamating with Richmond (Our Lady of Perpetual Help).

St Theresa’s in Plimmerton is likewise planning for staying on its existing site as growth trends in the area project a steady, if not increasing, number of Mass-goers in the parish. They offered three other options in their submission, including a possible merger with Our Lady of Hope parish in Tawa.

The Tawa/Titahi Bay parish acknowledged that a merger of Porirua parishes had been discussed previously, but they do not see it as feasible at this time. They submitted two proposals, which included the closure of St Pius X, which they acknowledge would be very divisive for parishioners in Titahi Bay.

“A number of Titahi Bay-based parishioners have indicated through the parish consultation process that, if this church is closed, they would likely go to Mass at another church such as Holy Family or St Theresa’s, or not attend at all,” the submission noted.

Our Lady of the Valleys (Heretaunga/ Stokes Valley) parishioners suggested
keeping the two sites as a short-term measure, but for the long-term, they proposed moving to one site. They have not decided on the location of the site.

In the Wairarapa, parish priest Fr Bruce England said they were granted a two-month extension to produce a combined decision on one proposal.

The parish finance committee had proposed retaining only St Patrick’s in Masterton and Sacred Heart in Greytown and selling other assets. The parish pastoral council is opposed to the closure of any of the five churches in the parish area.

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In a letter dated July 26, Cardinal Dew stated that the “Loud Fences” movement has begun in this country.

“In this, coloured ribbons are being hung on fences to show solidarity with
victims of sexual abuse and to encourage victims and survivors to appear before the Royal Commission [of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions],” the cardinal wrote.

It has been reported in secular media that the movement started in Ballarat in Australia in 2015, outside the former St Alipius Boys’ School site, where appalling acts of child sexual abuse had taken place. The founder was a local woman, Maureen Hatcher.

People were invited to tie ribbons to the school fence in support of abuse victims.

The movement has spread across the world, including to New Zealand.

In 2018, ribbons were tied to the gates of St Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin
by sexual abuse survivors and supporters. Bishop Michael Dooley and others from Dunedin diocese were present at the event.

Secular media has reported three other New Zealand occasions when ribbons were attached to Church fences or gates by survivors and supporters, as well as the controversy that followed each instance.

In his letter, Cardinal Dew wrote that “the bishops would like to reiterate their support for survivors to be able to place ribbons at church gates or fences and create ‘Loud Fences’ as part of a valid and important way to work through the healing process”.

“Removing the ribbons,” the cardinal continued, “can be viewed as deeply
disrespectful to survivors/victims and can be retraumatising.”

“Accordingly, I invite parishes and schools to be respectful of this process and suggest it is an important opportunity for the Church to accompany survivors/victims through this journey.”

Cardinal Dew added that “you may need to pass this message on to your communities as sometimes people have not been aware of the significance of the Loud Fences and have removed the ribbons”.

“Please inform your communities about this and, if people do have doubts
or questions, please explain the significance of ‘Loud Fences’ and how helpful this can be for those who have suffered from abuse.”

The cardinal stated he would appreciate it if “you could also advise me if a Loud Fence action appears at your school or parish and I will write to the
community”.

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Writing in his newsletter, dated July 9, Cardinal John Dew stated that the committee, formed a few months ago, is now working with archdiocese vocations director Fr David Dowling.

Cardinal Dew referred to “this group of generous people, consisting of three women and two priests . . .”.

The cardinal admitted in the newsletter that this “is a difficult time in our history to be asking people to think about vocations to the priesthood and religious life”.

“The sexual abuse scandals have rocked the Church throughout the world and continue to do so,” he said.

“It is hard to talk to young men about the possibility of priesthood when they hear so much about how so many have been abused and betrayed by those they should have been able to trust.”

“However, the call to priesthood must be talked about,” the cardinal wrote.

“It is still a rewarding and very satisfying life. It is a life of service and brings with it the incredible privilege of walking alongside others in all aspects of their lives.

It gives those of us who are priests the chance to try to be the presence of Christ to others . . . and that is a privilege and a blessing that I cannot put into words.

“Even in the midst of a Church in disarray and disappointment the call to priesthood is obviously still there.”

Cardinal Dew asked if Vocations Awareness Week (August 4-11) would be “any different for us from any other week of the year?”

“Will our parishes, schools and colleges do something special to encourage teenagers and young adults to think about the possibility of priesthood and religious life? Will parents mention it as a possibility to their sons and daughters? Do the priests who read this newsletter regularly ask young men if they have thought about priesthood as a possibility?”

The cardinal asked for prayers in support of the work of the Archdiocesan Vocations Committee. He also asked readers of the newsletter to “please reflect on how you could invite suitable young men to consider priesthood”.

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The Bishop Viard Memorial Trophy for runner-up went to St Peter’s College in Palmerston North, which hosted the event this year.

Prize winners were: St Catherine’s Cup Debating Best Negative Team: St Joseph’s Maori Girls College (Napier); St Mary’s Cup Debating Best Affirmative Team: Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt; Te Kaipanui I te Kupu Cup Scripture Reading in Te Reo Māori – Section A: Wharewaiata Rolls, St
John’s College (Hastings); Te Kaipanui I te Kupu Cup Scripture Reading in Te Reo Māori – Section B: Matarena Biiri, Bishop Viard College (Porirua); George Family Cup Junior Prepared Speech Section A: Darcy Donaghy, St Peter’s College; Vaughan Family Cup Junior Prepared Speech Section B: Waaka Poutu, Hato Paora College (Feilding); Cardinal McKeefry Cup Oratory
Section A: Patrick Ryan, St Patrick’s College (Wellington); Bishop Cullinane Cup Oratory Section B: Staines Sathya-Seelan, St Peter’s College; Catherine McAuley Cup Scripture Reading Section A: Amy Krammer, Garin College (Nelson): St Peter Chanel Cup Scripture Reading Section B: Corban Dravitzki, Francis Douglas Memorial College (New Plymouth); Bishop Owen Snedden Memorial Cup Religious Drama: St Bernard’s College (Lower Hutt),
first; Society of Mary Cup Religious Drama: St Peter’s College, second; Sacred Heart Lower Hutt Jubilee Cup Impromptu Speaking Section A: Royce Fitzgerald, St Bernard’s College; Silverstream Cup Impromptu Speaking Section B: Sam Crisp, St Patrick’s College Wellington; Hibernian Cup Religious Questions Section A: St Patrick’s College, Wellington; Mercy Cup Religious Questions Section B: St Catherine’s College; Jubilee Plaque Hosting School for 2020: Chanel College (Masterton).

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