Tolley Anne: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTolley Anne: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9272. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development): It is an honour to be speaking in the debate on the Prime Minister’s statement and it is also an honour to give the concluding speech in this long process. I cannot say that I have heard all the speeches over the last couple of weeks but the ones that I have heard from this side of the House have been positive forward-looking and celebratory honouring New Zealanders and talking about a Government that is working hard for all New Zealanders.I have to say the speeches that I have heard from the Opposition members pointed out and have shown very clearly that actually during their time in Opposition the Labour and Green caucuses have not learnt the lessons of being in Opposition. They are still working as they were in the mid-2000s judging everything on inputs. They judge everything on how much money you put into something. This Government—because it came through the global financial crisis perhaps—has been focused on getting results for New Zealanders. So it is not how much money you put into something; it is the effect of that spend and the results that you get for the people of New Zealand. This Government has learnt those lessons and that is why it has been so successful.If you look back on the achievements of this Government even through a global financial crisis we have increased the minimum wage by 27 percent since National came into Government in 2008. At the same time we have seen inflation kept to a rise of 11 percent. So that is a very real difference that those New Zealanders on the minimum wage have seen in their back pockets. Mortgage interest rates were almost 11 percent when we came into Government. Now they are down around the 4 percent mark. We have seen the economy growing—3 percent growth in the last 12 months. We have seen the average wage grow by $10000 since we came into Government. When we came in it was $47000 and now $57000 is the average wage.Youth offending and our young people—fewer young people are appearing in the Youth Court. The number is down by 61 percent since National came into Government. Under this National Government we have the lowest reported crime rates that we have seen in 23 or 24 years. Teenage pregnancies are at a historical low. Participation in early childhood education is at an all-time high. Never before have we seen so many children taking part in early childhood education and never before have we seen so many kids particularly Māori and Pasifika kids leaving school with a qualification with National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2. That has been hard work by a lot of teachers staff members and boards of trustees across the country and this Government has supported them all the way. Immunisation rates for Māori and Pasifika children are at the same rate as for European children. We have never seen that before. It is a tremendous achievement.On 1 April this year—a month from today—for the first time in 43 years people who have children in their families and who are receiving benefits will get an increase of $25 a week. Twenty-five dollars a week is going to make an enormous difference and all the families that I have been talking to have talked to me about the things that they will be able to do for their children. Then for those lower-income working families of course Working for Families is being increased by $12.50 a week and by $24.50 for those on the very low incomes.We have done the research we have got the evidence and we have based our investment of taxpayers’ dollars in the places that we know are going to make the most difference to New Zealand families. And what is more we are working together. Whether it is the Business Growth Agenda where we have got Ministers working together across Government; the regional development team which is out and about; or the family violence work that we are doing—and even today with the whole-of-Government approach to reducing harm from gangs—we are working together using good evidence and using that research. We have been open enough to set ourselves some targets publicly—targets to show the public that we can get better results for them and their families—and will report on them openly and regularly. So we are investing the taxpayers’ money wisely where we know it will have the greatest effect.Let me just talk a little bit about what we have done in welfare and I want to concentrate on two groups that we know have the highest long-term liabilities and the worst outcomes in their life. The first is sole parents. We are seeing that the number of people receiving the sole parent support has fallen by 23.5 percentover the last 5 years. There are now almost 42000 fewer children living in benefit-dependent homes. The Opposition has often asked: “Who cares? What difference does that make? Why is that important?”. Well it is important because again through the evidence and the research that we have done here on this side of the House we know that 48 percent of the children who are born into a benefit-dependent home will have a Child Youth and Family notification before they are 18—48 percent. Someone will be concerned about them being either neglected or abused. Almost half of them will not get NCEA level 2.These are children who are born into benefit-dependent homes. Forty-five percent of them will be on a benefit themselves before they turn 19 and unfortunately 5 percent of them will have either a community sentence or will be going through the courts and in jail before they turn 19. So that is why it is important that we help and support their parents get into work because that gives not only the parents but their children a better chance in life.Then with young people we have seen that the 15 to 19-year-old “neet” rate is the lowest since records began back in 2004. That has taken an enormous amount of work right across Government from education to health to justice to the police and to the Ministry of Social Development. We have all worked together to make sure that those young people get the best opportunity that they can.The Prime Minister talked about the overhaul of Child Youth and Family. Last year I appointed an expert panel to lead that complete overhaul of Child Youth and Family because those children are the most vulnerable in our communities and they deserve to have the best lives. It is not their fault that they were born into families who abuse them or neglect them. They deserve to get the whole attention of the Government and their communities to make sure that they can live successful lives.The panel has reported to me. It has identified during that time four building blocks of the new system. It has identified that we need a child-centred system. We talk a lot about it but when you talk to the kids themselves they say “Actually no one talked to me. Actually no one listened to me.” and we do not feel it is a child-centred system. We need an investment approach. We need to use that same evidence and research to know where we need to put our dollars to get the best effect long term for those kids.Carmel Sepuloni: They’re collecting some evidence and making decisions based on evidence.Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The Opposition does not like any of this because it is content to sit back and watch these kids be abused be re-abused and be revictimised and continue to live lives where they are not succeeding in life. That member smiles but actually the statistics are really bad because we know that the statistics tell us that 90 percent of those kids who live in care will end up on a benefit. The statistics tell us that 80 percent of them will not get NCEA level 2. They deserve better than this and this Government is going to deliver it for those kids.New Zealanders know that this National-led Government—and I want to pay tribute to our coalition partners because we cannot do it without them. They have been part of all the success that we are celebrating here in the House in the conclusion of this debate tonight and we welcome the input that we get from them. New Zealanders know that this National-led Government is working for them because it is actually delivering for them. New Zealanders know that this National-led Government is investing their dollars wisely based on good research and based on evidence. New Zealanders know that this National-led Government is addressing the hard issues by addressing and understanding the drivers: the drivers of crime the drivers of poverty and hardship and the drivers of economic growth and prosperity.New Zealanders have confidence in this Government. They have shown it time and time again—