July 16, 2020
Whanau ora bonus for job well done
The chief executive of South Island whanau ora commissioning agency Te Putahitanga o Te Waipounamu says her North Island counterpart John Tamihere's win in a defamation action was a win for the whole sector.
Newstalk ZB owner yesterday NZME apoligised and paid a confidential sum rather that defend itself morning host Mike Hosking's December 2018 allegation that Mr Tamihere pocketed whanau ora funds.
Helen Leahy says the money in question went to the commissioning agency as a performance-related incentive for delivering on its agreed outputs, as is standard in public sector funding contracts.
She says like Te Putahitanga, Mr Tamihere's agency does more than its contract requires.
"What we've had to do over the last four 4 months with COVID-19, we've had to do that because our whanau are so precious, they're the basis of our society. If the commissioning agencies weren't there to support the whanua and try to respond to what they need we would be in a worse situation so I think it was good news yesterday not just for JT but also for ther notion that whanau ora works and let's recognise that," Ms Leahy says.
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