Call for Rainbow Ministry misguided MPs say

Monday, 18 March 2019

Green MP Jan Logie has said a rainbow issues ministry, department or agency would help streamline processes for funding and advocacy. (Video first published March 2019).

OPINION: A call by Green MP Jan Logie for a dedicated ministry, department or agency for rainbow issues has received little backing from other MPs.

Logie says a Rainbow ministry would improve access to funding and representation for LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders.

Two MPs from either side of the house give their views.

**Priyanca Radhakrishnan

Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie, Auckland**

Issues that disproportionately affect our LGBTQIA+ communities – such as equality before the law and better access to quality health, education and housing – cross a number of different portfolios. This means the responsibility for addressing them lie across many different ministers in this Coalition Government.

* Green MP Jan Logie says Ministry for Rainbow Communities a 'good idea'

* How do we stop the growth of begging on our streets?**

Given this, to have a single entity assume, or be seen to assume, responsibility for this would undermine the work that numerous ministers are undertaking.

While there is still a lot more work to be done to better respond to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community, we are committed to continuing to make progress.

Last year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sent a strong message of support to the LGBTQIA+ community by becoming the first Prime Minister to march in the Auckland Pride Parade. This year, she will march in the Wellington Parade.

The message of support was reinforced by her attendance at Big Gay Out 2019 where she spoke about our commitment to the wellbeing of all New Zealanders through this year's Wellbeing Budget.

Demand for mental health services increased by over 70 percent under the previous government while funding for these services did not increase by even half that. Investing in better, earlier access to mental health support services is critical, especially for our LGBTQIA+ youth.

We're committed to supporting LGBTQIA+ youth mental health. That's why, last month, we launched Piki, a free youth mental health pilot to support 18 to 25 year olds with mild to moderate mental health needs. There will be more information about our plan to improve mental health later this year.

Our Rainbow community has long advocated for a change that would allow people to amend their birth certificates without going through a court process, which has a number of time, cost and dignity barriers.

I acknowledge that the deferment of the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill by Minister Tracey Martin has been tough on our transgender community and their allies. However, Minister Martin has been clear that she supports the change but needs more time to ensure the process works as it should.

I encourage members of our LGBTQIA+ community to take part in future consultation on this important legislation.

We are committed to improving the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their families, including the lives of our LGBTQIA+ community.

**Stuart Smith

National MP Kaikoura**

The question of whether we need a dedicated government ministry to represent a specific sector of society as suggested by a Green Party MP raises questions about who else we should consider doing that for.

You could continually slice and dice society into smaller groups, but to what end? There would be better metrics and public service announcements, but it would add little to society.

Statistically, men can be considered an at-risk group but no ministry exists for them. Men don't live as long as women and are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime. They also have a higher rate of suicide – around three men to one woman.

Creating a ministry to cater for every one of society's endless differences would arguably do little to change concerning issues like these.

What we must be asking ourselves instead is why equal access to services, funding and representation is not something all New Zealanders expect to have.

As a country, we need to address the soft bigotry of low expectations that exists today. Growing up with the idea that you are more likely to fail – because you are a member of a particular societal group – is likely to hamper your chances of success.

One of our newest National MPs, Agnes Loheni, gave a phenomenal and powerful maiden speech on this very topic last month.

She said: 'I grew up very lucky, in stark contrast to many of my Pasifika community today, because growing up, there was no one telling us that the system was against us because we were Samoan kids. There was no one telling us we were impoverished migrant Samoan families living in destitute conditions. There was no one telling us that we needed to be taught differently from all other kids because of our culture.'

Agnes Loheni says because she never received the messages of envy and hopelessness - 'messages that lead to an insidious victim mentality' - her own decisions and values were not influenced by these hurdles.

Any group in our society, be it LGBTQIA+, migrants, men, women, children – anyone at all – has the right to expect access to funding and representation, and success, equally.

If there is a perception that certain members of our society are less likely to succeed because of who they are and where they come from, then that is something that needs to change.

And that change must come from all New Zealanders.