In May this year my contract with the Labour Party ended and I left to run a programme called the Campaign for Change. The programme was supported by the Labour Party in Auckland, however I led and managed it.

This programme involved an international volunteer programme with a focus on voter enrolment, working with trade unions, student groups and churches.

Volunteers would also have the opportunity to work on local political campaigns, and a number of them did volunteer to help with Labour campaigns in Auckland.

The programme was extremely popular and quickly became oversubscribed. The scale of the programme is now greater than I can manage, and I am aware of issues that this has caused.

Earlier this week the Labour Party Head Office contacted me about these issues and requested to take the programme over so that it could resolve them. I have agreed to this and am no longer involved in the programme.

My intention from the start has been to give young people a positive experience in the New Zealand political system and I regret that the programme has not lived up to this promise for all volunteers.

I will be making no further comment.

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