Community Employment Group farewell canned

Rodney Hide

The Government agency that became known for funding a $26,000 world hip-hop tour ended its days by trying to arrange an expensive farewell function.

The Labour Department agency Community Employment Group (CEG) left the Government with $32,000 in bills for a cancelled conference, the Dominion Post reported today.

CEG was disbanded after the Government became embarrassed over the implementation of its social entrepreneur policy.

Its funding was split between the Social Development Ministry and Te Puni Kokiri. As part of the handover, CEG was given approval to hold a conference with representatives from the two other agencies, Labour Department spokesman Richard Ninness told the newspaper.

The conference was to be at the Millennium Hotel in Rotorua and delegates were to have their airfares and two nights' accommodation paid.

The Dominion Post reported that about 80 people were to attend, but In January, department officials discovered the conference had "grown in scope" and withdrew funding.

It was too late to recoup $32,000 of airfares, accommodation and venue hire already paid for.

The conference appeared to have turned into a farewell party for CEG staff. Department officials had acted quickly once they learned of the escalating cost of the conference, Mr Ninness said.

"We wanted to see money being used appropriately and to limit any unfair costs to the taxpayer."

The department negotiated to get back one night's worth of accommodation and arranged with the airline for some flights to be used at other times.

Act Party leader Rodney Hide said the conference was never necessary. It was a classic use by Social Development and Employment Minister Steve Maharey of taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, he said.

"They had to abolish CEG under Maharey after it (funded) hip-hop tours," Mr Hide told the Dominion Post. "Now we discover their last act was to organise a flash bash."

In September, Mr Maharey disestablished the CEG, which hit the headlines after Fuarosa Tamati and daughter Saralia received a $26,000 grant to travel to New York, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa and Paris to document the history of hip-hop music.

The Labour Department's annual report said in the past financial year it gave out 944 community enterprise and employment development grants worth $18 million.
A small number of the grants are still under investigation.

Mr Ninness told NZPA there had initially been a genuine reason for the conference before it got out of hand.  

He said there had been a need for continuity of service and the work being done, as well as passing on institutional knowledge to the agencies taking over CEG's work.


- nzpa