Despite the council’s funding support agreement stipulating that a review be carried out within the first three years, Macdonald had to push to get it done. Deloitte issued its damning report to council last November. In early December, I applied to the council for the report to be publicly released, under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. Late in January, the council’s official information team advised me that they were refusing to release it publicly, until March. As we now know, Deloitte’s independent review determined that the foundation operates very high cost structures, was not transparent and failed to fully co-operate with the review.
In a written statement a Crimson Consulting spokesman said it was eligible for the wage subsidy and, while many staff internationally could work from home, this was not universal and there was significant disruption in the education sector. “Without the wage subsidy, and other cost savings, we would have faced the prospect of job losses,” the spokesman said. “The subsequent economic bounce-back meant we did not need to apply for any later rounds of wage subsidies.”
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Jamie Beaton is the founder and chief executive of Crimson Consulting. With significant uncertainty remaining in the market, it had at this stage, decided to keep the wage subsidy, he said.
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Muslim Association of Canterbury leaders have “full confidence” in its due diligence processes following several complaints. Pictured, president Mohamed Jama outside the March 15 terrorist’s sentencing last year.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is investigating complaints about the charity that runs Christchurch’s largest mosque. The Muslim Association of Canterbury (MAC) severed ties with the national body the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ (Fianz) at an annual general meeting (AGM) on January 24, when many members also say it made “unconstitutional” changes to how it runs.
Stuff reported concerns from members and a charities expert about the “inappropriate” practice of giving all financial control to the president, and that members were not given time to fairly consider and vote on big decisions.
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Members of the association in charge of Masjid An Nur, or Al Noor mosque, feel they have not been consulted over major changes like severing ties with national body Fianz.
The charity behind Christchurch’s Masjid An Nur (or Al Noor mosque) has severed ties with a national Muslim body and made “unconstitutional” changes to how it runs, members say. They feel the Muslim Association of Canterbury’s (MAC) annual general meeting (AGM) on January 24 was not widely publicised and resulted in those attending being put under duress to vote on a controversial rewrite of the organisation’s rules. Some are seeking legal advice.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
In June, the Cerebral Palsy Society cut services and staff, surprising members. The society threatened members and removed staff that spoke out.
The former board of one of the country’s richest charities, tasked with helping those with cerebral palsy, loaned millions to property companies that have failed to provide a return for the charity despite using the money to invest in Auckland’s red-hot housing market. Questions are being raised by charity members and experts over the deals, which saw the former Cerebral Palsy Society president and a colleague paid tens of thousands of dollars in fees for masterminding and managing the arrangement, which appears to have left a $2m hole in the society’s finances as services were cut to those most in need.