Lees-Galloway IainPARENTAL LEAVE AND EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety): I move That the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill be now read a third time.This is a great day for families. It's a great day for mums it's a great day for dads and it's a great day for babies because finally after years of campaigning after years of the public demanding that the Parliament do this and after the Parliament twice saying that it would do this this Government is finally delivering for families 26 weeks of paid parental leave. I must say that I am incredibly proud that this Government has decided to make this bill the first bill of the new Government where we make good on a commitment that we have made to the public—a commitment that we made not only through the campaign but a commitment that we have made by supporting the campaign of 26 weeks for babies for many many years.This is a bill that will make working parents better off and that is what is at the core of this: making working parents better off and supporting young families to get ahead. We're doing this because we follow the evidence in this Government and the evidence is absolutely clear that the more paid parental leave that we provide for families the more flexibility families have in real terms because it gives parents the opportunity not to have to worry about work not to have to worry about where next week's pay cheque is coming from and not to have to worry about how they're going to pay the rent or pay the power bill or put food on the table but instead to spend time with their baby.The evidence also tells us that that period of time is just so important for babies' development. The opportunity to bond with their parents the opportunity to breastfeed exclusively if the mother chooses to breastfeed—the World Health Organization is absolutely clear that breastfeeding exclusively for six months or 26 weeks is one of the best things that parents can do to give a baby the best-possible start in life. That is what the evidence says and that is why today this Government is delivering on its promise to extend paid parental leave to 26 weeks.We are going to do this in two tranches. The first tranche will be to extend from the current 18 weeks to 22 weeks on 1 July next year. The second tranche will be to increase from 22 weeks to 26 weeks in 2020. The Government is doing that to ensure that we not only make good on our promises but we do it in a fiscally responsible way. We have to ensure that as we govern this country unlike the previous Government we make sure that our promises are backed with funding. The way we can do that with paid parental leave is to do it in those two tranches. It allows us to fit within the Budget responsibility rules that this Government set for itself. Not only are we making good on a promise that we made we're also making sure that we do it in a fiscally responsible way. I think what's most important about this legislation is that this will make a real and tangible difference especially for families who are on moderate and low incomes. This is part of the Government's Families Package—a package that is unashamedly designed to put more money in the pockets of families on moderate and low incomes. We are unashamed again about doing that using the funding that we are going to save by not going ahead with reckless tax cuts that were legislated for by the previous Government and would have put money in the pockets of the people who already have the most. Rather than putting money into the pockets of every member of this House instead we are going to put money in the pockets of hard-working families so that they have the opportunity to do the best by their families.I want to thank the National Party member Sarah Dowie. During the first and second readings of this bill Sarah Dowie raised a really important point that if we are extending the overall amount of paid parental leave to 26 weeks then we should also extend the keeping-in-touch hours. It was a very good point raised by a very sensible member who then worked constructively with the Government to ensure that her amendment was well drafted and was able to be accepted by the Government. That is the approach that this Government wants to take. When a good idea comes up we don't care where it comes from. We want to work constructively even with members opposite. So I want to thank Sarah Dowie for her effort. I want to thank her for raising the issue and I want to thank her for working constructively with this Government.Speakers' rulings preclude me from dwelling too much on matters that were not accepted by the committee of the whole House but I do want to say that there was one matter that was not accepted by the committee of the whole House but again this Government is interested in pursuing that and working constructively with the Opposition. We think we have an opportunity in the very near future to pursue that issue further. I'm sure that we'll be able to get that one resolved by working constructively together as well.After 15 years of paid parental leave being an issue that divided this House—15 years going all the way back to 2002 where the National Party fought against the Labour Party and its allies every time we looked to extend paid parental leave—we now have a consensus. That is a good thing and I welcome that consensus and I hope that it means that we'll be able to move forward constructively with all members of the House making suggestions and offering up opportunities not only to extend paid parental leave in the future but to make it work better for families across New Zealand. It always takes a little while for the National Party to catch up but usually they eventually do.All I want to say to the House at this point is: let's get this job done. Let's pass this bill today and let's give parents babies and families the 26 weeks of paid parental leave that they have been demanding for so long. Let's do this.