SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

No fast-tracking to become charity for Just Zilch

by Leave a Comment

Just Zilch’s application to become a charity will not be fast-tracked despite an “overwhelming” response to news they are on desperate street.

The free food store’s management has been fighting to make it a charitable trust for the past 18 months, but have been hamstrung because they cannot prove they are only helping people in poverty.

Without access to the funding options available to registered charities, Just Zilch management has warned it might have to close its doors in three months.

Charities Services general manager Brendon Ward said they had been assisting Just Zilch but they had not yet been able to accept the applications because of the vagaries of the documents they had received.

“We try to provide a service that helps people through their applications but we can only do so much; we can’t write the application for them.”

Wording was important and they could not just accept an organisation was a charity because the vibe of it was good, he said.

“The integrity of the register is really important.

“We want the public to have trust and faith in the organisations we consider charities and so it’s not uncommon for us to go back to people applying once or twice.

“We do need to take our time to ensure we make the right decision.

“That decision has to be based on the organisation’s application and on the 400 years of case law that has gone before it.”

Mr Ward said Just Zilch’s 18 month battle was “not an ordinary case” as it had been hampered by the timing of Charities Services – formerly the Charities Commission – merger with the Department of Internal Affairs.

For more on the story go to:

Story by Chris Hyde. 27 April 2013

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/8603999/No-fast-tracking-for-Just-Zilch

Registered charities and the proposed Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and Register of Lobbyists

by Leave a Comment

Under legislation proposed by Green MP Ms Ms Holly Walker, people who receive pay for lobbying MPs about laws or policies and who fail to register with the Attorney-General as paid lobbyists, could face criminal charges. The Lobbying Disclosure Bill, drawn from the parliamentary ballot on 21 April 2012, seeks to bring transparency to the activities of all paid lobbyists who attempt to sway and influence legislative processes by communicating with MPs. The bill proposes that the Auditor-General be empowered to investigate any alleged breaches of a Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, which all paid lobbyists must agree to and sign, before they can lawfully engage in the lobbying of MPs. The Auditor-General will also be empowered to remove or suspend persons from a Register of Lobbyists if they breach the Code of Conduct.

Ms Walker wants regular statistics to be gathered on all paid lobbyists and the data regularly collated and reviewed, so the public, government officials and a host of enforcement agencies can closely scrutinise all their activities.

If her proposed bill, as drafted, passes into law, charities registered with the Charities Commission, such the the New Zealand Aids Foundation (NZAF), that are heavily engaged in political advocacy and lobbying AND receive significant government funding (see below); will need to have all and every one of their paid lobbyists sign a Lobbyists’ Code of [ethical] Conduct and register their personal details on the Register of Lobbyists.

Failure to do so prior to watching a rugby match from a NZAF-sponsored corporate box, or watching a NZAF-sponsored modelling pageant, alongside any MP or MPs, regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, political affiliation or sexuality; might lead to an unauthorised NZAF lobbyist having criminal charges being laid against him or her. Such unauthorised lobbyists attending a Big Gay Out event or a Hero Parade, who might be photographed or filmed arm-in-arm with an MP, whilst indulging in “political advocacy,” may face the prospect of being charged with criminal activity (lobbying).

Once charged, the NZAF charity worker accused would be required in make a credible defence to the Attorney-General, disclosing the range of presumably “gay” friendly legislative issues discussed with the friendly MP, and the methods used in the lobbying campaign, if any.

Authorised NZAF lobbyists who face charges over alleged breaches of the Code  will have to rely on the official records made of their lobbying encounters as recorded by the friendly MPs as well as their own diary records and any corroborating evidence provided by Big Gay-Out/Hero Parade participants/witnesses.

(NZAF, a registered charity [CC22230], which received $4,112,376 in government funding/contracts, and $342,029 in other grants/sponsorship in the financial year ending 30 June 2011, has “40-something staff throughout the country” according to one NZAF official. No figures have been provided as to how many of these are paid lobbyists. $2,564,846 was spent by NZAF on salaries/wages in 2010/2011. See www.charities.govt.nz ).

The Auditor-General would need to scrutinise the lobbying activities of registered charities like NZAF, if the latter’s paid staff were charged with unlawful lobbying, and refer offending paid charity workers to the police if they breached the new law. The Bill requires a report on any suspended or deregistered paid lobbyist to be reported to Parliament, as well as all investigations of such breaches to be undertaken.

Given that the Auditor-General is an MP, he or she will have to be very, very, careful in all dealings with undercover paid lobbyists, particularly when attending highly-visible social events, if the bill passes into law.

Reference: Lobbying Disclosure Bill. In the name of Green Party MP, Ms Holly Walker.

http://www.greens.org.nz/bills/lobbying-disclosure-bill

Note: The article”Registered charities and the proposed Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and Register of Lobbyists” was first published on the SPCS Blog on 13 June 2012

Should registered charities lodge complaints about fraud and non-compliance?

by Leave a Comment

Police spokesperson Jon Neilson has told The Wellingtonian (24 March) that police would investigate complaints from the public about scams, including those targeting potential donors to Christchurch earthquake appeals, if there was sufficient evidence. The Chief executive of the New Zealand Red Cross, John Ware, has been quoted as having evidence that “scammers are trying to take advantage of the public’s generosity at this devastating time”, using online scams and setting up insecure websites that illegally seek to harvest details of potential donors’ credit card and bank accounts and other personal information.

But is it legitimate for any registered charity to lodge formal complaints with enforcement agencies such as the police when evidence comes to light of possible criminal activities? How can such complaints be justified within the humanitarian, philanthropic, public service objectives of a registered charity such as NZ Red Cross or The Salvation Army for example?

Of course it is legitimate and fully justified for any charity to lodge formal complaints when evidence of scams, lack of legal compliance, money-laundering, or any criminal activity comes to light in the course of its own activities. In fact charities have a social responsibility to do so because such scams are “injurious to the public good”. The financial cost of white collar crime alone in New Zealand has been estimated to be about one billion dollars per year, according to the latest KPMG fraud barometer survey. [Read more…]