Bennett David: Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 15 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17951. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East): Contrary to what that last speaker Jacinda Ardern said I say that the Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill is about investing in the future of New Zealand. It is investing in our young people it is investing in our families and it is making sure that in the most difficult of times when we have now reached a Budget surplus we use that money for the benefit of our younger citizens and our families. It is a prudent Budget that brings a surplus of $372 million. Compare that with our Australian brothers and sisters and you will see that they are cutting things whereas in New Zealand we are enhancing things. We are sending out programmes for families. These are important programmes that will benefit the future of our country going forward. They will raise stronger families with young children who will have their opportunities to be successful members of the New Zealand and world communities.This bill is important because we are increasing the length of paid parental leave up to 18 weeks from the current 14 weeks. That will be staggered increasing to 16 weeks on 1 April 2015 and to 18 weeks on 1 April 2016. There is a member opposite from somewhere down in Dunedin—Dr David Clark: Sue Moroney would take it further.DAVID BENNETT: “Sue Moroney would take it further.”—that is the comment from the Labour Party. Let us have a look. We have delivered for parents. Did the Labour Party deliver for parents? No it did not. It talked talked and talked. It has notdelivered. We have delivered. We have brought home what parents wanted. This is the difference: Labour talks; we deliver. We have delivered at the right time.When we look at it there is also the extension of paid parental leave to people who are in similar permanent care arrangements such as those with parenting orders. So it is broader than just increasing the weeks. We are actually looking at a broader-based policy that actually takes into account the different circumstances that many family relationships have these days. The Minister of Labour needs to be applauded for that—for taking a very positive and open approach and looking beyond the normal family arrangement that was considered the norm. We have also extended parental leave payments to more workers—in particular those who may recently have changed jobs seasonal or casual workers and workers with more than one employer. Again that is showing the flexibility of this legislation. We are looking at carrying it through into the variations that may be portrayed in the working environment that our younger families face in this modern world.Things are not as simple as people once expected. There are different arrangements there are different measures and there are different ways that people earn their income and paid parental leave needs to take into account those differences. This legislation gives us the mechanism to do exactly that and that is something that many parents would have been looking for.Hon Simon Bridges: Did Sue Moroney’s bill make any difference?DAVID BENNETT: Sue Moroney’s bill the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill did not do that. Sue Moroney’s bill was just all talk. This is delivery—delivery—of the things that are needed for people. We are making paid parental leave more flexible. There will be some more work to be done on this with public consultation around how that can be done but basically we are making it more flexible to take into account those variations and to make sure that the parents who are entitled to it get that chance to get that paid parental leave. Paid parental leave will be good for our families. It is part of a $500 million package for our families. Labour Party members will say that this is their idea. I never once saw the Labour Party go out there and talk about under-13s getting free medical treatment. I did not see Labour Party members go out there and say that that is what they wanted to do.Tracey Martin: New Zealand First policy.DAVID BENNETT: We have got some squealing from New Zealand First. Maybe that party’s members said it but you cannot really rely on what they actually say. The reality is that this is a good strong Budget. It delivers for families. It delivers for working families—the people whom the Labour Party should have been delivering for and the people whom National is delivering for. We are delivering in many ways. One of them is through paid parental leave. Another way is through the free doctors visits and prescriptions for under-13s. That is good governance. It is prudent successful governance and it is something that many parents and families will congratulate this Government on doing. Thank you.