Controversial charity Gumboot Friday gets another year's government funding
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Controversial charity Gumboot Friday will continue to receive government funding through to 2026.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said the initiative was helping thousands of young people access mental health support faster.
He said New Zealand was "turning the corner with reducing wait times and increasing the workforce".
"There are not many organisations that can get our young people off waitlists into counselling often within just a few days," he said.
"The government is backing Gumboot Friday to deliver more. Funding for 2025/26 will deliver 40,000 individual counselling sessions, reaching as many as 15,000 young New Zealanders.
"Over the next 12 months, the organisation will be looking at how it can scale up and encourage even more young people to access free counselling."
The government last year
committed $24 million over four years to the Gumboot Friday initiative
, which was founded by mental health advocate Mike King.
That was despite pressure from Labour at the time, who
called on the government to pause its funding
of I Am Hope/Gumboot Friday following
King's controversial comments on alcohol
.
"Alcohol is not a problem for people with mental health issues. It's actually the solution to our problem, until you come up with a better solution," King said at the time.
The Drug Foundation rejected that, saying alcohol was "really unhelpful during times of mental distress".
In November last year Doocey responded, saying while he disagreed King was entitled to have his own opinion on alcohol's association with mental health, and he would not be asking the advocate to rein in his comments.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
On Thursday, Doocey said in the first 12 months of government funding, Gumboot Friday had been able to deliver more than 30,000 free counselling sessions.
"They have supported more than 10,000 young New Zealanders who might not otherwise have access to timely support.
The counselling service's procurement process had run into difficulties before.
Last October, the auditor-general
criticised the government's "unusual and inconsistent" process
in giving $24 million to King's initiative.
The government had announced the I Am Hope foundation would receive $6m a year for four years to provide counselling services to five- to 25-year-olds, as part of the coalition agreement.
But RNZ revealed health officials had struggled to find a way to make the contract compliant with public procurement rules, and ended up invoking a special 'opt-out' clause.
Auditor-General John Ryan wrote to the director-general of health then, saying the process was "unusual and inconsistent".
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter
curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Christopher Luxon defends voting changes after Judith Collins raises problems
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said people need to get organised for elections. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The Prime Minister says the public still have plenty of time to get enrolled to vote despite scrapping same-day enrolment for elections. Last week the government announced legislation to overhaul electoral laws it said had become "unsustainable". The government agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins, with people needing to enrol or update their details by midnight on the Sunday before advance voting starts on the Monday morning (in other words, 13 days before election day). The legislation sets a requirement of 12 days advance voting at each election, and the changes would mean special vote processing could get underway sooner. On Monday morning, Newsroom reported Attorney-General Judith Collins, had said the proposed law changes clashed with constitutional rights in a report. She indicated 100,000 or more people could be directly or indirectly disenfranchised by rules banning enrolment in the final 13 days before an election. Collins declined an interview with Morning Report on the issue. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, told Morning Report , Collins had a statutory responsibility to review legislation to make sure it was consistent with the bill of rights. "As a government we think enrolment should happen before early voting starts," he said. Luxon pointed to Australia as an example of a country that does not allow enrolment on the same day as voting. "We want everyone to participate but it's just done two weeks before elections day. It's not uncommon, it gives people plenty of time to get enrolled and get sorted. "All we're saying is we want everybody to participate in our democracy... not an unreasonable request." On Election Day 2023 110,000 people enrolled to vote or updated their details. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Immigration Minister on overseas born NZers moving to Australia
immigration 13 minutes ago Last week, RNZ reported nearly half of the New Zealanders applying for Australian citizenship weren't born here. Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Te Pāti Māori announces Ikaroa-Rāwhiti candidate
Te Pāti Māori candidate Haley Maxwell. Photo: Supplied Te Pāti Māori has announced Haley Maxwell will stand for next year's general election - for the one Māori seat currently held by Labour. Maxwell helped organise the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in the region last year. "Haley Maxwell spearheaded the historic Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti from Te Tairāwhiti right through to Kahungunu. Haley embodies the fierce compassion and courage that Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is famous for" Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in a written statement. "She has stood on the marae, in the courts and on the streets for our people. Parliament will be a stronger house with her voice echoing the roar of Te Tairāwhiti." The statement described Maxwell as a wāhine Māori, māmā and nanny whose life's work centred on rangatahi justice, reo revitalisation and tangata-whenua drive community development. It said her campaign would focus on "tackling sky-high food costs, unaffordable housing, and low incomes across Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, while championing Te Pāti Māori's justice, housing, and mana motuhake policies". The party did not respond to questions about the timing of the announcement during a by-election for Tamaki-Makaurau, which Labour is also contesting. In a statement, Labour's MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, said the region deserved choices. "I acknowledge the Te Pāti Māori candidate announcement of Hayley Maxwell, and commend her for putting herself forward," she said. "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti deserves to have choices and will ultimately choose their voice in Parliament. In the meantime it's my honour to continue to serve the region." Te Pāti Māori has announced Haley Maxwell will stand for next year's general election - for the one Māori seat currently held by Labour. Maxwell helped organise the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti in the region last year. "Haley Maxwell spearheaded the historic Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti from Te Tairāwhiti right through to Kahungunu. Haley embodies the fierce compassion and courage that Ikaroa-Rāwhiti is famous for" Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said in a written statement. "She has stood on the marae, in the courts and on the streets for our people. Parliament will be a stronger house with her voice echoing the roar of Te Tairāwhiti." The statement described Maxwell as a wāhine Māori, māmā and nanny whose life's work centred on rangatahi justice, reo revitalisation and tangata-whenua drive community development. It said her campaign would focus on "tackling sky-high food costs, unaffordable housing, and low incomes across Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, while championing Te Pāti Māori's justice, housing, and mana motuhake policies". The party did not respond to questions about the timing of the announcement during a by-election for Tamaki-Makaurau, which Labour is also contesting. In a statement, Labour's MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, said the region deserved choices. "I acknowledge the Te Pāti Māori candidate announcement of Hayley Maxwell, and commend her for putting herself forward," she said. "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti deserves to have choices and will ultimately choose their voice in Parliament. In the meantime it's my honour to continue to serve the region." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
