Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says Mike King is entitled to have his own opinion on alcohol’s association with mental health and he will not be asking the advocate to rein in his comments.
On Thursday, Mike King told Newstalk ZB alcohol was not a problem for people who were mentally unwell, going so far as to suggest alcohol had done more good than harm.
The Labour Party called on the Government to pause its $24 million support for King’s Gumboot Friday counselling programme and I Am Hope charity.
Speaking on Morning Report, Matt Doocey said he disagreed with his comments, but he had “huge respect” for King.
“Alcohol is clearly not a solution ... but I think he’s been a strong advocate in New Zealand. He’s led some of the charge about breaking down the barriers in stigma and discrimination in mental health, but this time he does have it wrong.”
Asked by host Ingrid Hipkiss if it was appropriate for the Government to keep funding King’s charities, Doocey said people needed to differentiate between Mike King’s comments and Gumboot Friday.
“This is about the outcomes. What the Government is funding is Gumboot Friday, which is an online platform with hundreds of counsellors around New Zealand who deliver timely support – sometimes within 48 hours – to young people in distress, and the support we’re giving to [it] will deliver support to over 15,000 young Kiwis and that’s what we’re backing.”
I Am Hope founder Mike King came under fire for saying 'alcohol is a solution' to mental health. Photo / File
In the Budget in May, the Government announced funding to King’s I Am Hope foundation of $6 million a year for four years. The decision was criticised by the Auditor-General for its “unusual and inconsistent” procurement process.
Doocey said the Government was standing by the decision, and the Auditor-General’s report showed he was “very impressed” with the performance measures and evaluation framework built into the contract.
He pointed out that when the Auditor-General had looked at the previous Labour Government’s $1.9 billion investment in mental health, it was not clear it was delivering value for money, as it had no such measures.
“This contract does. We’re very confident that it will deliver and at the end of the day, we know we’ve got growing mental distress in our young people, we’ve got hundreds of counsellors that we’re funding who deliver timely support to vulnerable Kiwis.”
Labour’s call for the funding to be withdrawn was “pure politicking” and “really concerning”, Doocey said.
Gumboot Friday counsellors were complementing a “strained” publicly funded mental health system, he added.
King was entitled to have his own opinion on alcohol’s association with mental health, Doocey said.
“Mike is an advocate. He’s allowed to say what he wants to say. At this time I disagree with his comments ... about alcohol.”
Doocey said he had not asked King to withdraw his comments: “I haven’t spoken to Mike about it – nor do I intend to.”
RNZ approached King for an interview but he declined.
