This afternoon, I turned to the fellow sitting near me and called out:
“Guess what? A guy who runs a charity for mental health just said alcohol is a solution!”
And his eyes popped out…his mouth opened ajar.
That gave me some satisfaction - only because this person has zero care when it comes to politics and usually yawns if I try to engage him on my latest discoveries or news pieces.
Then, over on Facebook, Lyn Bergquist posted this image -
And so that was it.
I looked further into Mike King, founder of Gumboot Friday, and a topical discussion point.
Gumboot Friday provides “free counselling for anyone under 25”. They received $24 million from this government under highly irregular circumstances.
Specifically:
And,
Specifically, this government “directed” the Ministry to give King the contract - and the AG noted it was both irregular and bad practice for ministers to direct the public service in this manner.
Health Minister, Matt Doocey - who has largely been impotent in supporting mental health efforts in NZ , earning him disbelief, anger and shakes of heads when he talks to those in mental health - maintained everything was above board.
Naturally.
Second - documents obtained under the Official Information Act showed Health Ministry officials struggled to find a way to make the contract compliant with public procurement rules.
So they had to use a special ‘opt-out’ clause to twist the rules.
Finally, Treasury recommended the government not to fund Gumboot Friday in the first place - stating:
"Whilst innovative approaches may provide unique ways of responding to low mental-wellbeing, we consider investment to address mental health issues is better directed to preventative initiatives."
So that’s the history.
What’s started the attention is King’s comments this week on Newstalk ZB where he stated:
"Alcohol is not a problem for people with mental health issues. It's actually the solution to our problem, until you come up with a better solution."
"I would suggest to you that alcohol has prevented more young people from taking their own lives than it actually takes their own lives."
And it’s genuinely concerning to hear the founder and leader of a mental health charity for youth say something like this.
I don’t need to quote the statistics and research around alcohol, but suffice to say, it’s an inaccurate claim to suggest alcohol or drugs are a good answer to any youth problems - let alone mental health. If anything it will exacerbate and worsen the situation, even if addiction does not ensue.
King went on to defend his comments:
Alcohol and drugs had been a “lifejacket” to “stop that little voice inside my head” he said.
And that’s his prerogative and personal experience, but as a leader of a charity awarded $24mn taxpayers money to help youths in our country in a highly irregular contractual process - that is not good enough.
And for him to send that message out shows a level of maturity and judgement that does not deserve the very limited funding that this government makes in mental health.
Labour’s Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary has called for a review of Gumboot Friday and to pause funding in light of King’s comments.
But if the government stays on form, Matt Doocey and Luxon will protect King and ride this out - and trust voters are forgetful and apathetic enough to forget the many “irregularities” in 2026.
Another thing I found disturbing with Gumboot /I am Hope is that people only get 1 counselling session. Very very really do they get 2. Also a large percentage of their counsellors are not qualified or even working towards being qualified. Which is a huge red flag.
I've said it before, but I will repeat myself until hell freezes over Mike King as a depressive deserves all the expertise and qualified help he can get in his journey to wellness, but he is completely THE WRONG PERSON to be a spokesperson for anything regarding mental well being. And this government along with the last have massaged his ego into believing he has anything to say that is worth listening to. To put it bluntly the man is a grifter.