Venue: St. John Hotel (old Wellington Free Ambulance building), 5 Cable StreetWellington
Time: 11.30 am, 28 August 2007

My Ministerial colleague, the Hon. Winnie Laban; the New Zealand Olympic Committee Ambassador Danyon Loader; Garth Nowland-Foreman, the Chair of the Committee for the Study of the New Zealand Non-profit Sector; representatives of non-profit organisations; Catherine Ashley-Jones, the Acting Government Statistician, the Deputy Chairman of the New Zealand Cancer Society, Tony Southall; distinguished guests: ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning. It is a real pleasure to welcome you here on this significant occasion.

We are here to recognise the commitment and the sheer hard work of the people on the frontline of our voluntary sector.

Today we celebrate that, for the first time, we have a comprehensive analysis of the economic contribution that our non-profit institutions make to the well-being of our society.

Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders participate in non-profit organisations or benefit from the services that they provide.

Every day these organisations make our communities and our neighbourhoods better places to live in.

Everything we do benefits from the non-profit sector - from sport and play to tree-planting and organising cultural activities – we are talking about the glue that holds our society together.

Before progressing, I would like to warmly thank Danyon Loader and Anne Hodson from the Cancer Society.

Both are examples of what can be achieved when groups of people work together to pursue a vision.

Danyon, who in his swimming career was supported by the "mums and dads” in various roles at all those swimming meets held under the auspices of Swimming New Zealand, has reached great heights both as a sportsperson and as a leader. Danyon is the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s first Olympic Ambassador, and will be representing the committee for the campaign to Beijing next year.

Danyon's success is mirrored by many other athletes across a range of other sporting fields who have also achieved great personal heights with the support of non-profit organisations.

Anne Hodson from the Cancer Society is the Head of Volunteeers in Wellington, and her team has been working hard in preparation for Daffodil Day.

Prior to this event, Winnie, Danyon and I were all delighted to assist the Cancer Society by helping other volunteers pack up daffodils and open donation envelopes in preparation for Daffodil Day. And come this Friday, I am sure most of us will be out helping collect donations for this very worthy cause of helping to raise money for cancer research.

As with any voluntary work, it is that collective aspect of working together that achieves great things. As the saying goes, many hands make light work.

I am sure that both Danyon and Anne will agree with me in saying that a common denominator shared by both sporting and social services providers in this country is the voluntary aspect. Both services are underpinned by the tireless work of hundreds of thousands of people in non-profit organisations up and down the country.

I wish you both well in your vital ongoing work in the community.

The report I am releasing today – the Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account - meets a number of milestones in our country.

It is the first time that we have had an official measure of the economic contribution that non-profit institutions make.

It is also the first time that we have measured the economic value of the unpaid labour given by volunteers to non-profit institutions.

For the first time, we have detailed information about the number of non-profit institutions and their levels of employment. And it is the first time that we have had detailed financial statistics on the income and expenditure of our non-profit institutions.

New Zealand is one of 26 countries that have committed themselves to producing non-profit institutions satellite accounts based on the United Nations Handbook on Non-Profit Institutions in the System of National Accounts.

The success of our non-profit organisations relies on the hard work and dedication of volunteers, but there is a continued role for Government to encourage and support the not-for-profit sector.

I know, for example, that two recent government initiatives have been well-received from non-profit organisations.

Budget 2007 allocated new funding to Statistics New Zealand to allow a large range of its statistical products to become freely available over the 2007/2008 financial year. Removing charges for access to these statistical products is making available a wealth of information which will undoubtedly assist non-profit organisations to strengthen their social policy research and advocacy work.

In the six or so weeks since the first statistical products became available for free there has been a major upsurge in demand, with more than $4 million worth of products given away so far. To date, the files that been made available for free are the StreetLink files, Digital Boundaries CDs and as of today, the Area Unit Population Estimates.

Budget 2007 also laid down the foundation for a stronger culture of charitable giving by removing the $1,890 rebate threshold that had applied to donations made by individuals and the 5 percent deduction limit on donations made by companies and Maori authorities.

The success of our non-profit organisations of course relies on the hard work and dedication of volunteers. And this Government is committed to continuing to play its part in supporting you in your work that is so vital to the social and economic wellbeing and health of our communities, as well as our future cultural and sporting successes.

It now gives me great pleasure to launch this report.

ENDS

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