Kia ora koutou,
In this final Hui E! pānui of 2024, you’ll find information about upcoming legislation and proposed changes, including charity tax and submitting on the Treaty Principles and Social Security Bills, links to our recent webinars, and new resources and events to check out for 2025.
Wishing you all a restful and reinvigorating time with whānau over the break and a 2025 of standing strong in our power as communities, as hāpori, and in the knowledge of our impacts and our strength. We will be here pushing for tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector representation, engagement and championing at decision-making tables.
A huge thank you as we finish the year to the JR McKenzie Trust for supporting the growing Community Constellation of peak bodies that we are privileged to coordinate, and a big welcome to those of you who have recently joined our mailing list. You can find out more about Hui E! here.
Our office will be closed from 24 December to 6 January.
Meri Kirihimete
Katie and the Hui E! tīma
Hui E! updates
Hui E! has moved into a new office on The Terrace in Wellington with Volunteering New Zealand and Community Research. It feels very much like we’ve got the team back together as our organisations shared an office five years ago.
Click below to read our Hui E! Annual Impact Report 2023-2024
Annual Impact Report 2023-2024
Welcome Jess!
A new staff member brings our team to three! Jess Barnes has joined in the part-time kairuruku | coordinator role. She brings with her many years of experience in the non-profit sector and a passion for the power of community.
Find out more about our team here.
Proposed changes to charity tax
Recently, the Government announced coming tax changes for charities, with little detail, and some concerning assumptions about charities. While taking aim at specific large charities with trading arms, its scope and potential impacts are unclear.
All of us registered charities are required to ensure that our activity is in line with our charitable purposes, have public reporting accountabilities and cannot produce profits for individuals.
Hui E! are currently seeking assurances about the scope of these potential changes and how the sector will be engaged, including letters of concern to Ministers.
Submissions
Treaty Principles Bill (closing 7 January)
The Bill proposes three new principles to replace the principles that are currently used. As Carwyn Jones states, ‘the main problem with the proposed principles is that they do not reflect the agreement made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Bill presents a false picture of Te Tiriti.’
It is critical that the Government hears a loud and clear message on this one from our sector, and that tangata tiriti stand in solidarity with tangata whenua. You can read Hui E!’s submission here. We have also coordinated a Community Constellation submission.
Some resources to support your submission:
- Together For Te Tiriti: FAQs about the Treaty Principles Bill. ActionStation NZ.
- Primer on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. November 2024, Carwyn Jones.
- 20 Reasons to Oppose the TPB [in less than two minutes]. November 2024, Dr. Luke Fitzmaurice
- Ngā Matapono – Waitangi Tribunal reports on the Bill. August & November 2024, Waitangi Tribunal
Social Security Amendment Bill (closing 10 January)
This Bill proposes that from 26 May 2025, community work experience sanctions can be imposed on job seekers who do not meet their obligations. This would be unpaid work (and it is important not to call this volunteering, given the lack of choice involved).
Job seekers will have 2 weeks of the sanction taking effect to find a work experience position with a community or voluntary sector organisation (one that MSD is satisfied is ‘reasonably suitable’). The placement would be for at least five hours per week for four weeks. There is no current indication that infrastructure and resourcing would be provided to organisations to support this initiative.
Webinars
Catch up below on our Social Investment and Communities webinar, hosted by the Community Constellation, where we put questions to Minister Willis:
And with VNZ, XRB, IRD and Steven Moe on the changes to reporting for Incorporated Societies:
Events
Check out these national community events in the first quarter of 2025:
Community Governance Aotearoa
Inspiring Communities
Hapori Aotearoa (March 4-5th, 2025)
Resources
- Fundsorter helps charities find and apply for grant funding opportunities that are strategically aligned and meet their needs. This subscription service (from $30 a month) launches in March 2025 and you can sign up to get notified here. This is a new tool with a big goal to reduce the time community spends on funding applications by 90%.
- The Social Investment Agency have just published a new explorer tool for communities to access regional data across 70 indicators.
- The first Ethnic Communities Indicators report has been released by the Ministry of Ethnic Communities.
- Te Puni Kōkiri have recently developed a Climate Resilience Web App to support haporiu Māori in building resilience against climate change.
