Government Involvement in New Zealand Sport - Sport Policy: a Cautionary Tale

Abstract

Government involvement in New Zealand sport spans over 70 years from provisions of the Physical Welfare Act in 1937 to current provisions of the Sport and Recreation Act 2002. Thousands of volunteers in non-profit organisations continue to underpin New Zealand's sport system. It is axiomatic that sport defines part of what it means to be a New Zealander. Governments frequently use the rhetoric of community cohesion, national pride, life skills and public health benefits to justify its involvement. This thesis examines the impact of government intervention on the sport sector, its funding paradigms and the extent of sector engagement in a policy for sport. Through an examination of available government and sport sector records, and the author's own experience as a participant in events, the thesis recounts a sequence of five milestones for the New Zealand sport system and views them through a public management system lens. The passing of the Physical Welfare and Recreation Act in 1937, the establishment of a Ministry and Council for Recreation and Sport in 1973, the ministerial Sports Development Inquiry in 1984, the Prime Minister's Review of High Performance Sport in 1995 and the Sport, Fitness and Leisure Ministerial Taskforce. Government funding of sport now stands at around $100 million annually from small beginnings of $3,295 in 1945/1946, despite the absence of a comprehensive national policy for sport. By examining the chronology through a wider state sector lens, the thesis opens a window to the practical effect of public policy processes on matters of importance to the New Zealand sport sector and its voluntary sector foundations. This thesis also provides a rationale for revitalising the engagement between government and the New Zealand sport sector to meet the expectations of a modern state sector to meaningfully engage citizens and the non-government sector in the formation of policy and planning its implementation.