Some of the good folks of the wondrous nation of New Zealand appear convinced government is being turned back to the level of service in The Hobbit while slightly off-piste, an interesting slant on social impact lending with an Australian project…
NZ – Social Investment Bonds: A Further Means To Erode Democracy?
Poverty Action Waikato
A number of social services in the Waikato are deeply concerned with the government’s direction towards the implementation of Social Investment Bonds. The increased involvement of the private sector in the provision of social services potentially compromises democracy and threatens the ongoing viability of the state as a protector of the common good.
Over successive generations, the pot of money that the government can draw on for social service delivery has reduced. Tax cuts for the wealthy have resulted in increased inequality and a financially bereft state.
A challenge to the ongoing privatisation of social services and dwindling state provision is being voiced strongly by people from social services in Hamilton.
Call For Impact-Investor Tax Breaks To Support More Deals Like $2.5m STREAT Loan
Sally Rose – SMH
The tax inquiry has been urged to create incentives to spur more deals in the burgeoning impact investment market, such as a $2.5 million loan to STREAT that will help 250 homeless and disadvantaged Victorian youth each year.
The loan, brokered by National Australia Bank (NAB) and Social Ventures Australia (SVA), will allow social enterprise STREAT to fund the construction of a hospitality training facility and retail outlet in Melbourne.
Social enterprise is the term used to describe a growing crop of businesses for which the primary motive is doing good rather than generating profit, while embracing the need to make money in order to be sustainable. Founded in 2009, STREAT provides training and employment to young people at high risk of a lifetime of welfare dependency, through the operation of a cafe, coffee roasting business, catering company, and artisan bakery.