NZ Herald Headlines | Tuesday December 2, 2025.
Video / NZ Herald
A prominent mental health campaigner has called for a Labour MP to stop being “obsessed” with cutting funding to his charity and give her southern constituents the representation they “deserve”.
Mental health advocate Mike King has written a lengthy post on LinkedIn about the Auditor General report that found theI Am Hope’s Government contract for Gumboot Friday was being managed properly.
This comes a year after criticism of the Government’s hurried procurement process for the mental health programme.
The report was released in response to Ingrid Leary, who pushed for an investigation to see if the contract was giving value for money.
“After two years of constant public criticism from Labour MP Ingrid Leary and repeated innuendo about mismanagement of funds, the Auditor-General has now made it crystal clear,“ King wrote on LinkedIn.
He continued by saying he and I Am Hope do not receive a “single cent” of government funding and all the money goes directly to counselling sessions for young people.
“When Ms Leary calls for funding to be withdrawn, she is not punishing me.
“She is not punishing I Am Hope.
“She is punishing the 5-to-25-year-olds who rely on free counselling when they need it most.
“That is the part that has never seemed to bother her.”
He finished by urging Leary to return to South Dunedin and represent the people who elected her.
“The people of South Dunedin deserve representation that focuses on them rather than on scoring points off my name.
“But that would require accountability. And accountability has been in short supply throughout this whole saga.”
The Auditor-General said audit work had been completed and the ministry’s handling of the contract was sound.
