Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell has announced a significant restructure of Sport New Zealand following the release of an independent rapid review, which found the agency generally effective but recommended key institutional changes to improve accountability and policy alignment.
The review, conducted by Brendan Boyle from November 2024 to January 2025, endorsed Sport NZ’s commitment to youth activity and sector engagement but identified concerns around its dual role as both a policy advisor and funding decision-maker.
In response, Mitchell confirmed the Government will shift Sport NZ’s strategic policy function to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage by 1 October 2025.
This move aims to resolve the conflict of interest and better integrate sport policy with government-wide priorities in health, education, and youth justice.
Mitchell praised Sport NZ’s operational delivery and its efforts to support initiatives targeting youth offending, while also signalling upcoming refinements to the governance structures of High Performance Sport NZ and the Taumata Māori Board.
The review also identified up to $12.4 million in savings and recommended a strategy reset to align funding more clearly with ministerial goals.
What the fudge is Taumata Māori Board, get this racist bs out of our sport. They are killing it.