Hudson Brett: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — Recommittal Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHudson Brett: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — Recommittal Third Reading[Sitting date: 25 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1945. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BRETT HUDSON (National): I rise in opposition to this bill although as my colleague Mr Ross pointed out a little earlier there is quite frankly no substance in the bill to oppose. The Parental Leave and Employment (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill has three clauses: it has a title it has a commencement date and it references the Act that it amends by not doing anything. There are quite frankly in this third reading absolutely no amendments and no substance.If this House were to pass this bill at this reading it would not actually do anything and that is quite telling. It is quite telling because what I would like to say what I would like to point out is that in its original form it was possible to disagree with the bill because of the financial implications. This Government did. This Government opposed the original bill because it considered it to not be viable under the financial constraints of the times and in Government. But it was very open and transparent about that. We told all of the members across the House that we could not support it and why we could not support it. We did more. We told the people of New Zealand why it was that we could not support the bill in the form it was in.But I have to say that even though we could have disagreed and did disagree with it at the time at least it could be argued it was a highly principled bill. The sponsoring member was introducing it under a matter of principle and she was highly impassioned about what she thought it would achieve for families.But let us look at it now and this is the most disappointing thing. It has been watered down to be a completely nothing bill—a bill that can do nothing. It is normal for anyone in this House or more important for the public to question why—why has it become a bill of nothing from where it started. I think it is quite possible the public might say that the changes have come about for reasons of pure political expediency on the part of the sponsoring member simply to get runs on the board by getting a member’s bill actually passed.There is a saying that one is either on the bus or under the bus and the Opposition has thrown many many New Zealand families under the bus of its bill. Let us look at them. Parents having a pregnancy with one child? Under the bus. No change for them. Parents with multiple children facing all of the challenges and financial pressures of having multiple children to care for and one more on the way? Under the bus. Nothing extra for them.Sue Moroney: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am offended by that member’s suggestion that we are throwing children under the bus. Will he please tell the truth about the bill?The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! Look there are two points here. [Interruption] Order! First it is probably unhelpful to use phrases like “families under the bus” so I will ask the member to constrain himself on that. Then I say to the member on this side that there is Speaker’s ruling 42/3 which says that you cannot use “Tell the truth!”. So it is one all—all right?BRETT HUDSON: The other condition is that parents where the pregnancy will go full term get no addition to the paid parental leave that currently exists under this bill which actually has no content. That is the greatest disappointment of all. When the bill was first introduced it claimed a need for families and it said that it sought to satisfy a real need. But since then that need has been undermined to the point where it is offering so little to families and only to specific families.It must be pointed out that the original bill was unaffordable and that is why the Government opposed it. It ignored the reality of the constraints of governing in an environment following the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes. It also ignored the reality the disgraceful condition that the previous Labour Government had left the country in with projected deficits going out for at least a decade. New Zealand needs and New Zealanders want—and they have shown us through the elections we have held that they want—a practical and pragmatic Government. With this National-led Government that is exactly what they have got and what we have delivered for 6½ years.Within those constraints—that reality—this Government is making a real and positive difference to New Zealand families. We are extending paid parental leave to 18 weeks over two affordable steps in subsequent years and under this Government everyone can benefit from that extension not only those in very limited specific circumstances because this is a Government that is governing for all New Zealanders.We recognise that families come in many forms now. They have many different priorities and many different specific requirements for assistance and this bill would help those people not only specific limited-interest groups. We offer broader support in the broader forms and nature of our assistance. Not only are we extending paid parental leave to 18 weeks not only are we doing that but we are going to extend the paid parental leave to caregivers because we recognise that in some families’ circumstances it is not going to be the biological parents who will be the ones looking after the child in those early weeks.Not only are we doing that but also we are going to raise the parental tax credit by 40 percent to $220 per week. That supports parents who choose to remain in the workforce. And not only that but also we have effectively indexed that maximum rate to the average wage so as the average wage rises—and it has risen in recent years under this Government to be higher than the rate of inflation—so too will that support for parents.We understand that the well-being of children of families is broader than merely the first few weeks so we have a programme that not only deals with parental leave parental tax credits and the form of the family support but also is going to provide things such as free doctors visits and prescriptions for under-13s. It is going to provide more funding $155.7 million for early childhood education to raise participation to a 98 percent target.We are also implementing further comprehensive risk screening for people who work closely with children as we are also adding a further eight Children’s Teams to help protect our most vulnerable children. Our free breakfast in schools programme for the children who want it—Sue Moroney: The bill is about paid parental leave.BRETT HUDSON: Well no actually. I raise a point of order Mr Assistant Speaker. The bill is not actually about—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): No no. No no—[Interruption] Order! Just concentrate on the bill. That is not a point of order. If the member has got nothing to say well that is easy; you sit down.BRETT HUDSON: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I was just trying to make the point I think that care and concern for families including children is a bit broader than merely the first 18 weeks of their life or even as the member originally had in her bill 26 weeks. There is more to concern New Zealand families than simply that.What we have is a Government that is focused on ensuring that we are caring for families across all of New Zealand. But what has been presented to the House to consider tonight and make a final resolution on is in fact—well if we forget the fact that the bill has no amending provisions in it and the way the members opposite have talked about it—that all the bill would do is extend a small amount of additional financial support to a very limited number of groups. That is an absolute disappointment because as I began by saying the member originally had a fundamental position of principle which was that she felt—and the Labour supporters felt—that the financial support paid to new parents should be more across the board but that has been completely diluted.Meanwhile while Labour is diluting what it is trying to do this Government is actually taking real action real action that addresses the needs of a far broader group of New Zealand families and provides very positive and real outcomes for them. So I oppose this bill and I call upon members across the House to vote against it.