Latest news with #KaOra
Scoop
18-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Experts Urge Fix As Government Expands Failing Lunch Scheme To Primary Schools
Underprivileged primary school children are about to suffer the same poor service as their intermediate and secondary school peers, with the Government's announcement today that primary schools are transitioning to the cut price, revised Ka Ora Ka Ako - Healthy School Lunches programme. The revised version of the school lunch programme, rolled out to secondary and full primary schools in January 2025, saw the Government partner with national consortium the School Lunch Collective to achieve drastic reductions in the programme cost. The new version of the programme is being plagued by a multitude of problems, including delivery of unsafe and unpalatable food, massive wastage of uneaten meals and packaging, and the nutritional quality of the lunches plummeting. Nutrition experts found the government-funded school lunches are failing nutrition standards. The new lunches now provide only about half the energy recommended for a school lunch. Despite all providers being contractually obliged to meet the Ministry of Education's Nutrition Standards, none of the 13 meals provided by School Lunch Collective that were examined by nutrition experts met them. This means the lunches are no longer healthy - despite the programme being named the Healthy School Lunches programme. This is hardly surprising, given the School Lunch Collective members, Libelle and Compass, were failing to consistently deliver good quality lunches under the previous funding model, when they were receiving nearly three times the funding per lunch. "It's not a cost saving if it's not delivering the nutrition our most disadvantaged children need to succeed at school. Under the previous model, schools could choose how they provided lunches to their tamariki, with many walking away from Compass and Libelle to either do it themselves or work with local community businesses. Tamariki got better food for less cost. Our growing teenagers are now getting less to eat and being told to be grateful for it", says Professor Lisa Te Morenga, Health Coalition co-chair and Massey University researcher. "This Government has prioritised productivity, but hungry, undernourished children cannot learn effectively nor be productive. More than a quarter of children in Aotearoa face poverty and food insecurity - this programme is designed to help those kids. These children are our future workforce; we need to invest in them", says Professor Te Morenga. "I'm extremely angry and disappointed this government continues to ignore our voices and our evidence of the success of locally provided lunches. Instead, they want to remove what's working to save a few dollars - at the expense of our tamariki. We need to be investing in our tamariki and their future, says Seletute Mila, Tumuaki/Principal of Arakura School. "The changes to Ka Ora, Ka Ako have set back the progress schools were making in helping New Zealand's disadvantaged children. The programme must be fixed now- by being appropriately valued for the potential it has to lift our most disadvantaged children out of poverty and to lead healthy, productive lives. This benefits us all. We are calling for this current mean and draconian model to be abandoned. Raise the funding and give communities the flexibility to provide the best nutritious food they can for their tamariki," says Professor Te Morenga. More information Reports from schools across Aotearoa reveal serious failures in the revised programme, including: Unsafe food: The NZ Food Safety Authority is investigating concerns, as reported by BusinessDesk. Lack of allergy-friendly meals: Students with allergies are left without safe options, as reported by BusinessDesk. Waste and inefficiency: Unappealing meals are going uneaten, and previous systems to redistribute food to students or charities are no longer happening. Excess rubbish: The new system generates more landfill waste than before. Poor nutrition: The lack of fruit likely means lower fibre intake. Lack of transparency: Schools and families don't know the actual nutritional value of meals. Halal concerns: No clear process ensures meals meet halal dietary needs. Late or missing deliveries: Many schools report meals not arriving on time. Repetitive and insufficient portions: Meals lack variety and are often too small. No direct communication: Schools can no longer work directly with suppliers. No student feedback: Tamariki have no way to voice concerns about their meals.
NZ Herald
22-06-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Despite decades of cost-cutting, Governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this?
THE FACTS Recent controversies over New Zealand's Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme have revolved around the apparent shortcomings of the food and its delivery. Stories of inedible meals, scalding packaging and general waste have dominated headlines. But the story is also a window into the wider debate about
Otago Daily Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Tax evader leaves $2 million trail of debt
A tax-evading Southland school caterer has left a $2 million trail of debt after her company went bust. Debra Lee Monteith appeared in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to 11 months' home detention on a single representative charge of aiding and abetting her company in failing to account for PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024, Inland Revenue said in a release. That just added to her troubles after her company, Lee 19, was put into liquidation in March last year, with questions over third-party loans and operating a lawnmowing business under the company's name, which was running contracts while in liquidation. Her company stopped paying PAYE tax for nearly three years and defaulted on a debt repayment scheme. Inland Revenue had applied to put her in liquidation last year, which was granted. All up, the company had assets of $99,899 and liabilities of $2,048,785. Lee 19 was primarily involved in food catering, including the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme and catering at the Alliance Lorneville meat processing plant. The latest liquidators' report said Inland Revenue was one of the preferential creditors, who were collectively owed $1,106,877, unsecured creditors were owed $843,336, while secured creditors were owed $181,482. In the latest liquidators report, published in April this year, the director of the company advised the company was operating two businesses: a catering business and a canteen. The director also advised the company had been used to operate her ex-partner's lawnmowing business. Initially, the director advised of an intention to purchase some of the company's assets. Due to the valuations the liquidators received, those purchases were declined by the liquidators. All remaining company assets were sold to one party. The liquidators were also considering a claim for an unrelated third party which had a contract with the lawnmowing business in the name of the company. The contract was still operating after the liquidation, with questions about who was receiving payments. A claim was also issued for an overdrawn current account against the previous director. No response was received. A claim was also made on a third-party loan but no-one could be located and it became uneconomic to pursue. Inland Revenue said in its statement that in 2019, Lee 19 registered as an employer and began paying its workers. The next year, several employees phoned Inland Revenue stating their KiwiSaver deductions were not being paid. No PAYE returns were filed until 2020, when returns for seven PAYE periods were made all at once with $82,894.86 (excluding penalties and interest) immediately due and payable. Monteith entered into an instalment arrangement in 2020 for the debt, but this was cancelled in 2022 because of missed payments. Then the company stopped paying PAYE entirely from March 2021 until February 2024. The PAYE not accounted for over the period totalled $801,928.79. Monteith told Inland Revenue the PAYE was used to keep the company afloat and pay for food costs. Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry. Monteith benefited by just over $300,000 between 2020 and 2024, although she was not otherwise taking a salary from the company. Lee 19 also applied for and received more than $780,000 in Covid-19 support money from various schemes. The company, at Monteith's direction, was receiving significant taxpayer support while at the same time not meeting its own tax obligations. Monteith, who ran four other companies since the late 1980s, was made bankrupt in 2013.
Otago Daily Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Home detention for tax evasion
A tax-evading Southland school caterer has left a $2 million trail of debt after her company went bust. Debra Lee Monteith appeared in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to 11 months' home detention on a single representative charge of aiding and abetting her company in failing to account for PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024, Inland Revenue said in a release. That just added to her troubles after her company, Lee 19, was put into liquidation in March last year, with questions over third-party loans and operating a lawnmowing business under the company's name, which was running contracts while in liquidation. Her company stopped paying PAYE tax for nearly three years and defaulted on a debt repayment scheme. Inland Revenue had applied to put her in liquidation last year, which was granted. All up, the company had assets of $99,899 and liabilities of $2,048,785. Lee 19 was primarily involved in food catering, including the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme and catering at the Alliance Lorneville meat processing plant. The latest liquidators' report said Inland Revenue was one of the preferential creditors, who were collectively owed $1,106,877, unsecured creditors were owed $843,336, while secured creditors were owed $181,482. In the latest liquidators report, published in April this year, the director of the company advised the company was operating two businesses: a catering business and a canteen. The director also advised the company had been used to operate her ex-partner's lawnmowing business. Initially, the director advised of an intention to purchase some of the company's assets. Due to the valuations the liquidators received, those purchases were declined by the liquidators. All remaining company assets were sold to one party. The liquidators were also considering a claim for an unrelated third party which had a contract with the lawnmowing business in the name of the company. The contract was still operating after the liquidation, with questions about who was receiving payments. A claim was also issued for an overdrawn current account against the previous director. No response was received. A claim was also made on a third-party loan but no-one could be located and it became uneconomic to pursue. Inland Revenue said in its statement that in 2019, Lee 19 registered as an employer and began paying its workers. The next year, several employees phoned Inland Revenue stating their KiwiSaver deductions were not being paid. No PAYE returns were filed until 2020, when returns for seven PAYE periods were made all at once with $82,894.86 (excluding penalties and interest) immediately due and payable. Monteith entered into an instalment arrangement in 2020 for the debt, but this was cancelled in 2022 because of missed payments. Then the company stopped paying PAYE entirely from March 2021 until February 2024. The PAYE not accounted for over the period totalled $801,928.79. Monteith told Inland Revenue the PAYE was used to keep the company afloat and pay for food costs. Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry. Monteith benefited by just over $300,000 between 2020 and 2024, although she was not otherwise taking a salary from the company. Lee 19 also applied for and received more than $780,000 in Covid-19 support money from various schemes. The company, at Monteith's direction, was receiving significant taxpayer support while at the same time not meeting its own tax obligations. Monteith, who ran four other companies since the late 1980s, was made bankrupt in 2013.
Otago Daily Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Southland woman's $800k tax evasion
Debra Monteith. Photo: ODT Files A Southland woman providing school lunches has been sentenced to home detention after failing to pay more than $800,000 in tax through her catering company. Debra Lee Monteith was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court to 11 months home detention for failing to account for PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024, Inland Revenue said in a statement. Monteith's company, Lee 19, was primarily involved in food catering including the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School lunches and catering at the Alliance Lorneville meat processing plant. In 2019, Lee 19 registered as an employer and began paying its workers. The next year several employees phoned Inland Revenue stating their KiwiSaver deductions were not being paid. No PAYE returns were filed until 2020 when returns for seven periods were returned all at once with $82,894.86 immediately due and payable. Monteith entered into an instalment arrangement in 2020 for the debt, but this was cancelled in 2022 because of missed payments. Then the company stopped paying PAYE entirely from March 2021 until February 2024. The PAYE not accounted for over this period totalled $801,928.79. Monteith told Inland Revenue the PAYE was used to keep the company afloat and pay for food costs. Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry. Monteith benefitted by just over $300,000 between 2020 and 2024, although she wasn't otherwise taking a salary from the company. Lee 19 also applied for and received more than $780,000 in COVID-19 support money from various schemes. The company, at Monteith's direction, was receiving significant taxpayer support while at the same time not meeting its own tax obligations. In March 2024, Lee 19 was placed into liquidation. Monteith, who ran four other companies since the late 1980s, was made bankrupt in 2013. - APL
