Sue Moroney
Women’s Affairs Spokesperson

6 December 2012

24 hour crisis line needed this Christmas

Auckland’s 24 hour sexual violence crisis line, HELP, must be available over Christmas says Labour’s Women’s Affairs spokesperson Sue Moroney.

Labour is pushing for urgent action to keep the helpline going, after a petition signed by 12,000 people was tabled in Parliament yesterday calling on the Prime Minister to keep the crisis service from closing down.

“Sadly, the ‘festive’ season often sees a spike in physical abuse, meaning services like the HELP crisis line are in even higher demand,” Sue Moroney said.

“There have been promises made by the Government throughout the year to resolve the service’s funding constraints. Those promises have not been kept and the issue must be brought to a head.

“Labour wants the Select Committee to report back before Parliament finishes for the year with a report calling for the Minister to act.

“The service needs just $116,000 to stay afloat. That’s a small amount of money to deal with a huge amount of harm,” says Sue Moroney.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>