October 2020 From the Director We are journeying through a Covid-19 world, emerging out of a second lockdown with no definite end in sight, and now we have launched off into the elections. Presidents and Prime Ministers vying for power, leadership debates, fiery words (even insults), opposing views, emotional topics, different camps, crises to deal with, poverty, housing, unemployment, referendums and more. Here we are. The best of times and the worst of the 2020 General times! Election Booklet, video and other The politicians are listening more than ever. information to aid This is one of our best chances as citizens to discussion and to highlight areas of social concern participate in the shaping of our nation and the to help you as you seek to inform yourself about issues people and communities face. People have how to vote—see the link here. often been derisive of politics—the power games, the compromise. It doesn’t seem very spiritually Our SPPU Facebook page also has multiple media uplifting, until you acknowledge (as has been interviews, including a church leader elections said), ‘politics is people’. All the rancour aside, interview I did on Shine TV. the outcomes of our deliberations have a massive There was the election issues event at the impact on real people! Porirua Salvation Army with Paul Barber from We need to think and pray hard about how we SPPU speaking about various election issues with vote and what the issues are. We encourage you to candidates present and allowing for good dialogue participate as an active citizen. SPPU has produced with politicians, Salvationists and others over areas of concern and ideas for possible solutions. We also launched our 2020 State of Our Communities Report (SOOC) that incorporated the voices of people in the Queenstown, Johnsonville and Rotorua communities. Each community was unique, but there were common themes as well. These voices provide a brilliant outline of community concerns that should be used to inform communities, political leaders and ourselves as we try to consider what issues matter. See the link here. Finally, we have the very important and contentious referendum issues: the Legalisation of Cannabis and Control Bill and the End of Life Choice Act (EOLC). The Salvation Army has its positions on both issues, and Commissioner Mark Campbell, as our Territorial Candidates at the SPPU Porirua Election Debate (from left): Leader, has signed up to two Church Leaders’ media Jo Hayes (National), Jan Logie (Greens), Helen Cartwright statements about these issues. Also, see the Army’s (Integrity Party) & Barbara Edmond (Labour). Continued ... October 2020 own media releases regarding legalising cannabis Government and the EOLC issues. 21/08 BERL Interview for Commerce Commission May God be with you as you participate in this credit market research—Ronji. noisy, messy, contentious, but ultimately critical 11/09 Government Policy Statement on Housing aspect of the democratic process. Workshop, online (MHUD)—Ronji. He will take pity on the weak and the needy 18/09 Connect MBIE with TSA Human Resources and save the needy from death. Team—Ronji. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. 24/09 Interview with AT (council) on impact of —Psalm 72:13–14 cashless payment on poorer Aucklanders—Ronji. Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hutson Community Advocacy Director—Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit 21/08 Interview with BERL Economics around the Commerce Commission’s monitoring and regulation functions under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Out & About Finance Act reforms—Ronji. Speaking/Presentations 10/09 Attended Community Housing Aotearoa’s online workshop on the Residential Tenancies Act Lecture at U3A (Paul Barber) 11/08 reforms—Ana and Ronji. 10/09 Pacific resilience post-Covid-19, online, 11/09 Workshop from the Ministry of Housing and Talanoa (Massey University)—Ronji. Urban Development to draft the Government’s 10/09 350 Climate Change Warriors Election Panel, Housing Policy Statement—Ronji and SASH staff. online—Ronji. 24/09 Wise Guys Update meeting with Ted Kim— 17/09 State Of Our Communities, Rotorua Ronji. Presentation—Ana and Ronji. Stakeholder Meetings 21/09 State Of Our Communities, Johnsonville Presentation—Ana and Paul. 24/08 Linwood Corps, providing local data for PR funding application—Ronji. 28/09 Social Justice and Pacific Perspectives, Fiji TSA Cadets—Ana and Ronji. 26/08 RadioNZ and Pacific Media Network, Cannabis Legislation, Talanoa—Ian. 28/09 RadioNZ and Pacific Media Network, Cannabis Legislation Talanoa—Ana. Media 20/08 Pacific Against Covid (PAC) Community Submissions Livestream Facebook—Ronji. LINK Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Regulations (No 2) 2020 This Bill provides for 21/08 Shine TV Media Interview—Ian. LINK the creation of regulations to support a range 27/08 Phone Interview with Eva Corlett, Pacific of these new requirements of the principal homelessness/housing RadioNZ—Ronji. LINK Act. The key areas covered in these proposed policies—relevant to TSA and our mission, people 02/09 Spinoff, under-funding of DHBs because of and communities—are regulations on disclosure Census 2018—Ronji. LINK before debt collection, affordability and suitability 09/09 Interview TV3, The AM Show, High Rates of requirements, responsible advertising and secured Child Poverty—Ronji. LINK bonds. SPPU submitted on first and second rounds of this Exposure Draft of Regulations. This is the 10/09 Sunday Star Times/Cryptocurrency article— final round of policy consultation.CLOSED 17/09 Ronji. LINK 15/09 Cause Collective/JR McKenzie filming on social change/Pacific communities/housing—Ronji. Continued ... October 2020

15/09 Social Change Documentary for Cause 09/09 Meeting with corps officer Ameet Londhe, Collection—Ronji. Dot Loves Data—Ronji. 17/09 Interview with TV3, The AM Show—Ian. LINK 10/09 Attended Young Lives Matter (Adolescence Suicide) Workshop—Ana. 30/09 RadioNZ Pasifika, Impacts of Cannabis Referendum article—Ronji. LINK 11/09 Meeting with corps officer Ruth Wilson/Child Poverty—Ronji. 02/10 One News, Your Vote 2020 article—Paul. LINK 28/09 Theological Reflection with David Noakes— 05/10 Scoop Politics, Equality Network article— the team. Paul. LINK 29/09 Meeting with Rev Dr Stuart Lange (NZ 05/10 Scoop Politics, Benefits: The Unkindest Christian Network)—Ronji. Politics of All—Paul. LINK 30/09 Meeting with New Lynn Home League—Ronji. State of Our Communities Media Coverage Rotorua Daily Post 1 Think Piece Rotorua Daily Post 2 In the early days of The Salvation Army, William One News Booth, along with early Salvationists, would take to the streets of the communities they served to talk Otage Daily Times to the people and find out what they wanted and needed. These conversations with the community Sun Live (Bay of Plenty) attributed to the driving force behind many of the Newshub good works The Salvation Army started. In the world of academia, this would be called a ‘bottom- Radio New Zealand up approach’, where the process and the decision- Stuff making is largely influenced from the bottom. The execution of these processes and decisions, however, is still managed at the top. The bottom- Internal Salvation Army up approach and the concept of taking it back to 18/08 Determining The Salvation Army approach the communities was how the Social Policy and and action related to The End of Life referendum Parliamentary Unit (SPPU) came up with the idea 27/08 Kiwibuy Meeting—Ian. of the State of our Communities report (SOOC)—to put communities back into the driver’s seat. Local 06/09 Preaching East City Corps—Ronji. corps and volunteers from Rotorua, Johnsonville and Queenstown surveyed their local communities 07/09 Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Trustees meeting— about what they liked, concerns they had, impacts Ian. of Covid-19, Election 2020 and their aspirations 12/09 Masic Meeting—Ian. for their communities. The result was SOOC 2020, which is an advocacy report collating the voices of 23/09 Meeting with Te Ohu Interns—Ronji. these communities to advocate for change. Just like SOOC 2020, the hope for a bottom-up approach is 28/09 Meeting with ASARS—the team. that the voices from the bottom are not diluted on their way to the top. External 10/08 Theological Reflection with Roshan Allpress— The bottom-up approach is somewhat similar to the team. democracy—if we think of democracy as a pyramid with those in our team of 5 million that are eligible 24/08 Hard 2 Reach Consulting meeting—Ian. to vote at the bottom of the pyramid and the execution and distribution of policies, legislations 25/08 Tax Justice Aotearoa meeting—Paul. and funding at the top—but, theoretically, what 26/08 Interview with Jasmine Wagner (Masters in percentage of voices from the bottom of the Planning student/Kainga Ora)—Ronji. pyramid make it to the top? October 2020

If the 2017 election is anything to go by, off’. Other driving factors these communities approximately 80 percent of those who are eligible identified included poverty, homelessness, drugs, will vote. The ballot box on election day is the immigration and Covid-19 recovery. most important and formal process of democracy. In this process the bottom-up approach has Many of the driving voting factors drawn from absolutely no dilution. The party that the majority SOOC were rooted in the concerns they had for will choose will become the government. The their community and the impacts of Covid-19. ballot box is the final end-point for the majority of Across all communities, the loss of employment New Zealanders in their democratic journey. A few and income created a domino effect that will continue in the democratic process through exacerbated the current housing crisis and created meeting and lobbying their local MPs, submissions serious mental health issues, particularly for young to new and changing legislations, or protesting to people. These communities also faced challenges influence decisions in parliament. These actions that were unique: Rotorua, with its large Māori have resulted in positive change; for example, population, was struggling with homelessness and take the recent changes to the Credit Contracts drugs; Queenstown, as a tourist mecca, was now and Consumer Finance Act (2003)—an interest rate struggling with loss of income and employment cap on high-cost loans and responsible lending and the impact this had on the large migrant requirements for mobile traders—The Salvation population in the community; Johnsonville, a small, Army strongly advocated for this change. diverse yet rapidly growing suburb, has pockets of poverty exacerbated, particularly with minorities However, there are also instances where it seems and refugees. Despite these concerns, locals were like community voices are not heard. Take the aspirational for change in their community—hoping Abortion Legislation Act: over 25,000 written for more housing, more employment and better submissions to the select committee, with 90.6 mental health services, to name a few. percent against the bill; protests for and against across the country; and, of the 2890 submissions In an ideal world, party policy would address that had opted to speak, only 5 percent were all the concerns these communities voiced, but given the opportunity. The End of Life Choice Bill that would require parties to be homogenous in had received nearly 38,000 written submissions, nature and that wouldn’t reflect the diversity of with 90 percent of submissions opposing the our country—diversity in beliefs, in thought and bill in 2019, yet, ‘Do you support the End of Life in culture. The hope is that communities would be Choice Act 2019 coming into force?’ is one of the informed enough to vote for parties whose voice, referendum questions we will have to answer this in the form of policy, would align with their own. year. Our voices are the loudest at the ballot box After the 17 October 2020, the loudest voice in the and as our country faces the cannabis referendum, room will be the one to govern our country for the the euthanasia referendum and recovery from next three years, so make sure your voice is heard, Covid-19, now would be the time to speak up. it may be the greatest opportunity you have in this democracy. So, what are you trying to say at the ballot box and what is driving your decision? SOOC 2020 asked For more information about elections and selected locals in Queenstown, Rotorua and Johnsonville general issues in New Zealand check out the SPPU and this is what they had to say: Housing, because 2020 General Election Issues here. ‘Affordable housing is a luxury for the average To read out latest report State of our communities person’; Health, because ‘Healthcare services 2020 you can find ithere . should try to be a fence at the top of the cliff, rather than an ambulance at the bottom; and, Ana Ika Employment and Income, because ‘If everyone Policy Analyst had jobs our community would be much better

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