Often at Synod there will be motions that call upon the Government or other leaders to act on issues that we as a church feel strongly about.

In the 2018 Synod a resolution was passed condemning Conversion Therapy and asking the Government to ban this. Two issues also became part of correspondence to the Government from Synod 2019: separate remand facilities, and; homelessness, including the implementation of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) findings.

So, what happened with these?

A letter was sent to the (then) Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, in 2018, including our resolution on Conversion Therapy:

That this Synod rejects the practice of so-called "conversion therapy" for gay people, and considers that the Anglican Church should not be carrying out or promoting any "ministry" or "therapy" that leads to the expectation that a person’s basic sexual orientation can or should be changed. Further, it urges Anglicans throughout this country to follow the lead of the UK Government and support a ban on its use in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Just last week we were contacted by Government officials and are in the process of talking to them more about this as they add this issue to the legislative programme. We will keep you updated for any further developments here. 

There was a delay in sending correspondence in 2020, but both letters are attached below again for you to have a look at. In them, Bishop Steve shares each motion as well as the accompanying notes and asked for a response as follows:

Remand Facilities

"At the last Synod held in this Diocese (September 2019) there was a motion passed on the above topic which I commend for your consideration. It is particularly relevant now that there is world-wide attention on the issue of racism, since a high proportion of the people on remand are Maori or Pacific Islanders.

I have set out the motion and the supporting notes which were available to Synod members:

That this Synod asks the Government to provide separate, humane but secure facilities for all youth and adults on remand awaiting trial or defended hearing, and suitable programmes to assist all such inmates improve their life skills.

Notes - A remand in custody until trial or defended hearing is often followed by a Guilty finding, but not always. Those on remand in this way (over 25% of our adult prison population which now exceeds 10,000) might spend a year or more in custody, which for adults means in prison with sentenced prisoners, and for youths it means a remand in a Youth Residence or Youth wing of an adult prison - again, with those against whom serious offences have been proved or admitted. If found Not Guilty, there is no compensation for them and without access to suitable programmes their lives just go backwards - and yet throughout that time they have the presumption of innocence. Hence the need for separate, humane facilities - or else to provide proper compensation, which would be very expensive.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course."

Homelessness

"At the last Synod held in this Diocese (September 2019) there was a motion passed on the above topic which I commend for your consideration. It is particularly relevant now that there is world-wide attention on this topic, and it particularly affects the most marginalized. 

That this Synod requests the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to implement the findings of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group to substantially reduce poverty and provide affordable housing in New Zealand in Budget 2020, and phase in further improvements in successive years.

Notes - The Church through its Synods, social service agencies and Church leaders, have regularly been advising successive governments about the problems and inequality created when many families in New Zealand live in poverty. They simply don't have enough income to provide adequate housing and a sufficiently healthy diet for children to grow and develop as they should.

The currently government established the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) in May 2018 to provide advice on the future of New Zeeland's welfare system. The report "Whakamana Tangata Restoring Dignity to Social Security in New Zealand" sets out findings that are robust and rigourous, based on evidence and research from NZ and overseas as well as the experiences of people supported by and working in the social security system.

The WEAG Report provides clear recommendations on how the Government can address the income and housing problems that create so much poverty in New Zealand, alongside the associated problems of health, employment and justice.

Implementing the WEAG Report would decrease inequality and improve the lives of a quarter of New Zealand's Children substantially and many adults living below the poverty threshold. The opportunity is there for Budget 2020 and there is need for them to know that there is strong support for them to act on the report.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course."

The Response

For the Remand Facilities letter there was a letter of acknowledgment, and we received a letter from Hon Kelvin Davis (Minister of Justice) on 28 January. It outlines the Government's progress and plans in developing specialist remand facilities for young people, plus developments in this space from Oranga Tamariki. They respond that it is not possible to put people young people into specialised programmes to address their needs, but that there is a case manager system where needs are assessed and addressed on a one to one basis. The Diocesan Council will consider this letter at its March meeting and what other response may be required. 

The Homelessness letter had a more comprehensive response from the Hon Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development (attached below) which outlined some of the responses so far i.e. some immediate steps taken (Families Package 2018, indexing benefits to wage increases, increasing Winter Energy Payments, establishing an Employment Strategy, a change of culture within the ministry to treat people with respect) as well as provisions in the Budget of May 2020 to support rebuilding the economy in response to the impact of COVID-19.

At Synod 2020, both motions from Synod 2019 became Standing Resolutions i.e. they now remain in force until they are seen to have been addressed appropriately by the Government. This means that we need to effectively stay on the case until there is significant change that addresses these issues.

What next?

This is still work in progress: we have sent correspondence from Synod 2020 (the Elimination of Racism and Support for COVID-19 aftermath, attached below). There are some things for us to ponder in relation to the 2019 and 2020 resolutions:

• Is there any other response or suggestions we could make about better remand facilities? Is there anything we could do or support for these young people?
• Is there any way we can be part of ending poverty and homelessness? (as a church we have considerable assets, some that could be used differently - see article on Mission Aligned Investment)
• What are ways that we can continue to genuinely respond to on-going needs from the COVID-19 pandemic?

A reminder also of why we continue to so these things from the 5 marks of mission that we hold:

i. To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom;

ii. To teach, baptise and nurture the new believers;

iii. To respond to human needs by loving service;

iv. To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation;

v. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth