Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 23 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19377. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National):Sat sri akaal Mr Chair. Thank you for your consideration of my call. It is my pleasure to discuss clause 2 of this bill the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill. National is very concerned about the future of this country. That is why we have been working on very well-managed spending where we can afford what we have achieved in these 6 years. What we can afford in the Budget is because of that well-balanced spending. However at the same time I would like to say that children and families are at the forefront of every Budget. At the same time we want to ensure that as a country we attain a balance between the bringing up of our children and the financial implications for the nation due to the increase in the amount of paid parental leave. Also we have to consider the intergenerational effects on the debt that this bill seeks to create for our children whose well-being we are all seeking.To share with you some facts all of us know that the recent Budget announcement by our finance Minister invests almost $500 million in developing our children. Further the investment made by the National-led Government in various sectors of the economy will no doubt result in more jobs and higher wages. The flow-on effect of this is that it will result in better lifestyles for our families. There is further facility for the Government’s participation in health and well-being of our children. The Government announced free GP visits and free prescriptions for children under the age of 13 years. We extended paid parental leave by 4 weeks which we consider is affordable at this stage.We do not think that this country can afford the reckless spending that this bill proposes. There is an increase in the parental tax credit by $70 to $220 a week and leave is extended by 2 weeks to 10 weeks. These are some of the measures that we have taken now. New Zealanders understand that all this comes at a cost and that the Government is doing everything practically possible to look after each of our citizens young or old. We debated all these issues in the Government Administration Committee and also considered them in the submissions. However we were unable to reach an agreement. During the select committee there was huge discussion about these issues and whether the Government can afford these measures or not. Increasing paid parental leave to 26 weeks is unaffordable right now.Families will benefit from the growing economy and from jobs with higher wages. It will also be appropriate that they are among the first to benefit from the Government’s spending as the economy picks up.The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Order! Narrow it a little.KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI: Changes to paid parental leave and the parental tax credit alongside other measures in Budget 2014 will provide increased targeted support within the current economic conditions for working parents and newborn babies. In the first year of the child’s life particularly in the first 6 months it is important for the newborn baby’s development to get full-time personal care. It is also important for the parents and the caregivers to get support to manage budgetary and other measures. Encouraging the attachment of mothers and caregivers to the labour market has broad economic and social benefits and can support a stable family environment for their children to grow up in. I think this is appropriate for the Government which has already made some real progress on this area and I think we will continue as time proceeds.