Sepuloni CarmelHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): Can I just start by acknowledging the Social Services and Community Committee for the work that they have done and continue to do. Can I also acknowledge the public servants for the huge amount of work that we have tasked them with over the last nine months that we've been in Government. We have big expectations of ourselves and we have big plans for this country and we are reliant on the work of the public servants; so can I acknowledge the great work that they are doing.I'll also acknowledge Minister Tracey Martin who spoke earlier on her portfolio as Minister for Children. She was very gracious to the previous Government actually and I think she will be regretting that now after the speaker who just spoke prior to me. I will on behalf of the Minister for Children make the point that the advisory group that was being referred to by the Hon Alfred Ngaro and that same advisory group he was criticising the current Minister for Children for was actually an advisory group set up under the previous Government. So I make that point on behalf of the Minister for Children.I think it's really important that I just briefly touch on the direction of this Government and then reflect on some of the questions or comments raised by one of the previous speakers on Vote Social Development. We were very clear in the Estimates and we've been very clear since we've got into Government that we are aspirational for New Zealanders that we are about ensuring that people are supported to reach their potential. For us it is about ensuring that in whatever Government agency people have an interaction with they are treated with fairness and respect and that their dignity is upheld.I've been very clear about that with the Ministry for Social Development and make no apologies for that approach. I was criticised earlier for taking that approach and the comment that was made was that I was undermining public servants who are out there on the front line. Well in fact I'm not doing that at all and I have already visited I think 20 Work and Income New Zealand offices to make sure that we're absolutely on the right page. The vast majority of our staff do an excellent job but we know there are one too many incidences in the media where people have experienced something that is not a positive experience in a Work and Income New Zealand office. So I'm not going to apologise for committing to working alongside our staff to improve it so that every person who goes to Work and Income New Zealand offices has a positive experience because they deserve that.One of the previous speakers brought up the young parent payment and was saying that there was a marked increase in the number of people that were receiving that. The point has already been made to that member and to the select committee that that increase is due to a decision by the previous Government to increase the age range which means that more people are captured and eligible for that particular payment. So that point of clarification is I think really important.Another point that was made was that there has been a reduction in the number of people who have had cancellations or suspensions of their benefits and criticism of me for that. Well actually the reason that there has been a reduction is not because we changed the general policy about why it might be applied but because we changed the process to ensure that we had our checks and balances in place and there had to be a person authorised to sign that off. That is actually the responsible thing to do and seeing a reduction shows that actually in the past it's probable that there were mistakes that were being made. I accept absolutely that front-line staff have a big job in front of them; so it's important that we as decision-makers make that as easy as possible for them by putting responsible processes in place which is exactly what I've done.I've been criticised by a previous speaker also for reducing the obligations on people who are accessing a benefit. That is not at all the case. The same obligations stand. We have an expert advisory group now that's in place to give us advice on things like excessive sanctions income adequacy and the way that the welfare system interacts with other Government agencies and all of that advice will be taken on board when we receive their report in February. But I've been very clear: the only sanction that I can speak to that this Government has already committed to getting rid of is section 70A. As for the rest I'm not pre-empting any changes in that space and I'm looking forward to the advice that we get from the select committee.I also want to make the point that we were criticised earlier—and I know the Minister of Housing and Urban Development will speak to this but I think we were collectively criticised—on the increase of the number of people who are on the social housing register. The reality is that when we got into Government a lot more New Zealanders that've been doing it tough struggling to make ends meet struggling within the housing crisis that's been left as part of the legacy of the previous Government—as soon as we got in a large number of New Zealanders all of a sudden felt hopeful that perhaps they had a Government in place that would empathise with them and would do something about the desperate housing situations that they were in. So it's no surprise to us that housing numbers increased on the social housing register. There wasn't a housing crisis created when we got into Government; the housing crisis was created by the previous Government and we have been left to respond to it. So I acknowledge the Minister of Housing and Urban Development the Hon Phil Twyford who is doing a fantastic job in that department and I won't speak anymore to housing because I know that he will respond to that himself.I'm very proud of some of the measures that we put in place already in these first nine months. I have to acknowledge the first 100 days and the Families Package: $5.4 billion worth of funding that went to support low and middle income New Zealand families. That money was shifted away from the planned tax cuts that the previous Government had promised. Those tax cuts were not agreed to by us because actually the reality was that a large proportion of those tax cuts were actually going to the top 10 percent of income earners in New Zealand—something like $400 million—and to us that's not acceptable.I'm very proud of the fact that as of 1 July we had the winter energy payment put in place. As of 1 July parents in this country or people in this country who have a child will now be eligible for the Best Start payment and that really along with the extension of paid parental leave demonstrates this Government's commitment to families to low and middle income New Zealanders and to those first thousand days for children which we've all been told about in this House. All of us have had the evidence put in front of us that shows very clearly how important the first thousand days are.So I'm very proud of the Families Package proud of the fact that something like an additional 29000 families will now be eligible for Working for Families and that that will only continue to grow. Very proud of the fact that even though it's just a start because we as a Government know that there's still much more to do because of our Families Package 64000 children will be lifted out of poverty and that really demonstrates the commitment that we have on this side of the House to addressing child poverty an issue that almost all New Zealanders take seriously and unfortunately was largely ignored under the previous Government.I'm very proud of the fact that as a Government we made the commitment to put $76 million towards family violence services the first time that many of these services at the front line if not all of them have received additional funding for a decade. They have been working on the smell of an oily rag with some of the most vulnerable families in an area that has got increasingly challenging and all of a sudden I feel very proud that we can be part of a Government that shows we're committed to addressing it.I think that all of the Ministers on this side of the House and all of the members on this side of the House in Government would acknowledge though that there is much more to do and we are committed to doing it. That's why we have made sure that we have Jan Logie in the parliamentary under-secretary role to be that person that pulls it together given that that particular issue spans over so many portfolios and is incredibly complex.I think I've covered off most of the main issues raised by the previous speaker and all I want to say is that there is much more to do. This Government is committed to addressing child poverty and we are committed to ensuring that we support New Zealanders into meaningful and sustainable employment. As the Prime Minister has said we will support all who are able to be earning learning caring or volunteering.