KEY POINTS:
The Chief Families Commissioner expects to work well with Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, despite Ms Bennett's objections to a $200,000 "summit" forcing its cancellation.
The Families Commission yesterday cancelled a conference for 150 invited people at Waipuna Lodge next February after Ms Bennett said the cost was inappropriate.
Yesterday the Chief Commissioner, Jan Pryor, said although Ms Bennett had disagreed with the summit, "We have started off positively with her in other ways".
Ms Bennett had shown support for other Families Commission work, including the "It's not OK" campaign directed at family violence and work on handling family debt.
Ms Pryor defended the cost of the conference compared with other commercial conferences of the same size, which she said would cost about $1500 a head.
As well as venue hire, the cost included catering, audio-visual equipment and recording of the summit's proceedings.
The commission had talked to Ms Bennett over the past week before deciding to cancel the summit.
"She did express concern at the beginning. She never told us not to do it, but we had been aware of the changing circumstances. When we started to organise this, the economic climate was not anything like it is now. But after we began to engage with [Ms Bennett] it became clear it was the best action."
The commission planned to have 150 attending who were paying for their own transport and accommodation, including Stephen Tindall from the Tindall Foundation, Business NZ head Phil O'Reilly and various heads of Government departments and community organisations.
Labour leader Phil Goff said there were "top flight" speakers at the conference, but he did not know enough about it to say whether he considered it value for money.
