For immediate release

Louise Nicholas: Government making terrible mistake over sexual violence services cuts

National Survivor Advocate Louise Nicholas says the government is making a terrible mistake by forcing cuts to sexual violence services in Auckland. HELP, Auckland’s sexual abuse crisis and counselling service, has announced that it has no option but to begin cuts to services and redundancies as a result of government funding decisions.

She said there is a risk that, to save money, this work would be taken over by people who do not have the necessary skills to understand and support victims of sexual violence. Having the wrong help can be devastating for victims of rape and sexual abuse, she said.

Louise Nicholas said that although people may mean well, the wrong help can cause added trauma, mental health problems and discourage people from participating in the medical and police procedures that are required to bring an assailant to court.

She said that it is not only the victims of rape who require support. Partners, families and friends also struggle to come to terms with the harm caused by sexual violence and often require help – not just during office hours but often in the middle of the night.

This government made a commitment to the people that they would improve and support front line services. HELP provides a critical frontline service to victims of rape and sexual assault. Without this specialised service, many more victims will find it difficult to ever recover from their experiences, she said.

ends

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Gordon Campbell: On The 2013 Budget

Among Thursday’s main talking points:

We are apparently on track for a margin-of-error $75 million surplus, now in sight for 2014/15. But this sickly creature is hobbling out of the lab on the basis of all kinds of facilitative conjuring: such as trimming by $200 million the amount of new spending next time around.

With this strictly nominal surplus in sight, the 1984-ish justification for eternal austerity will have a news talisman: namely, getting Crown debt down to 20% of GDP by 2020. More>>

Budget Report, Lockup Audio & Images: Budget Day 2013 As always and especially after the managerial mishaps of the past few weeks and months, (e.g. Aaron Gilmore, the Mighty River Power share float, the GCSB mishaps) Budget Day 2013 was always going to be a pageant of reassurance... More>>

Budget 2013 Comment: Plain Sailing, But It's No America's Cup Pattrick Smellie: Compared to the last four budgets, this year's reflects an economy moving out of recession and into calmer waters... Yet if the fastest annual growth rate we can expect over the next two years is 3 percent - with the Christchurch rebuild in full swing - then you'd have to say New Zealand's underlying low-growth problem is far from fixed. More>>

Auckland Discord: Govt’s Power Hungry Housing Approach A Threat - Labour

Last week the Government said this, ‘The Government commits not to use any proposed or existing powers ... to override the council's planning and consenting processes’. But its housing Bill says this; ‘If an accord cannot be reached in an area of severe housing unaffordability, the Government can intervene by establishing special housing areas and issuing consents for developers’. More>>

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