MPs meet with terror victims amid funding cuts

 

Speaking ahead of a meeting with survivors, Collins said the Government of New Zealand was not renewing funding for some programmes because it was time for a new phase.

But that’s come as a shock to some of the affected families, many of whom are still traumatised.

Extra help has long been in place for victims of the March 15, 2019 attack, which saw a white supremacist terrorist murder 51 people in two Christchurch mosques.

Last week, the new coalition Government decided not to renew some of that funding, including one service described as a “lifeline”.

The Ministry of Social Development announced the “wraparound” service, Kaiwhakaoranga, will end next month. It gives victims specialist case managers to help them apply for support from various Government agencies.

Feelings reached a peak on Tuesday, when Al Noor mosque imam Gamal Fouda wrote to the prime minister relaying his “profound shock” at the Kaiwhakaora decision, saying “it shows a lack of consideration for the survivors and their families”.

Speaking to 1News beforehand, Collins said she felt deeply for the families but the Government planned to change the support it offered.

“We do need to be able to move through to making sure that a lot of the services become part of the normal reaction of the agencies with every individual,” she said.

That would mean offering affected families the same treatment as all others, requiring survivors – many of whom are still struggling – to make applications for support without specialist help.

Collins rejected claims that the Government was abandoning the community, saying the suggestion was “wrong”.

“I think a lot of the things that we have been doing are now becoming very much part of the normal work of the officials and the departments and ministries,” she said.

“I think everyone’s realised we need to get in a position to not just talk to the community but actually to look at individual’s needs, because every individual’s needs are different.”