$200k summit canned

The Families Commission has axed a $200,000 “summit” for 150 people at Waipuna Lodge, after Paula Bennett raised concerns about its appropriateness in today’s challenging economy. Paula sets a great example for other Ministers, and jut you wait – the $200,000 summits are the tips of the iceberg. Then there are the multi million advertising campaigns.

Ms Bennett acknowledged the Families Commission conference was proposed a year ago in good economic times by its previous commissioner, Rajen Prasad.

“But I think they need to recognise the times we are in now. I struggle to see the direct result it’s going to have in making a better life for families.”

The commission’s chief commissioner, Jan Pryor, said she was surprised at Ms Bennett’s stance at such a late stage, as it was well-known that the commission had been planning the summit for more than a year.

The commission had tried unsuccessfully to find sponsors to finance the conference, and had moved toward changing the agenda to focus more on responses to the developing economic crisis.

So they were not going to attract their budgeted income for the conference, yet still go ahead with it. And more curious, there seemed to be no fixed reason for having the conference – they just changed it to whatever was topical.