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A claim has been made that community groups are being muzzled by fears that speaking out against Government policies will result in funding cuts.
An organisation, which wished to remain anonymous, has told Radio New Zealand about subtle threats from a cabinet minister it refused to name.
It said the fear of being punished financially for speaking out had worsened over the past three years.
Marion Blake, the chief executive of a national network of mental health and addiction organisations, The Platform Trust, said many groups were sharing the same concerns about speaking up.
“The traditional role of many community organisations is to talk about the things that are critical in their community,” she said.
“And sometimes there is a real fear that if you talk out about things in a negative manner then your funding will be jeopardised.”
Ms Blake said organisations were feeling vulnerable and did not want to put themselves in the firing line.
A poll of 311 providers, conducted by the community sector network ComVoices, has found 60% of the organisations that responded are not prepared to speak out publicly.
The poll found community organisations are under growing financial pressure.
- 75% have more work than 3 years ago — but fewer than 40% have more staff than 3 years ago
- More than 80% are doing more work than specified in contracts — 60% doing up to 25% extra, and 17% doing more than 50% extra
- There is huge frustration with both Government and philanthropic funding contracts and competitive funding models
- 40% were unable to offer any wage increases in the last 3 years
- 6% report they are facing closure in the short term, because of financial pressures
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