Tolley Anne: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTolley Anne: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 05 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:667. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development):I am pleased to stand tonight and talk to this bill and in particular the Supplementary Order Paper that affects the purpose of this bill and narrows the scope of this bill. I have to say as I start that I do not think there is any doubt that everyone in this Chamber wants every single New Zealand child to be able to live a full and successful life and have all the things that all of us want for our children but we do come to this Committee with different expectations and different understandings about what is going to make a difference to many of those children we are hearing about tonight. I have to say that I am delighted that in fact there has been some concession from the promoter of this bill that the Government’s Budget 2014 package a considerable package—$500 million focused on children—has been reasonably successful. That is a concession that the Opposition has made and we accept that. That was a very comprehensive package. I do not have to go into the details of it because we all know and we have talked about it through the campaign. It was a big piece of work that involved healthcare early childhood education and Children’s Teams focused on protecting our most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. The parental tax credit increased substantially from $70 a week to $220 a week and was extended out from 2 weeks to 10 weeks and of course we extended paid parental leave. So that is a big comprehensive package and that really is what this is all about.If we are determined as we all seem to be to make such a difference to those young New Zealanders then it is not just one thing and focusing on paid parental leave might at the edges make a difference but actually most of those children are in really complex situations and it will take a very complex solution to address their problems. So the narrowing of the bill now to those children who are born with a disability or those families where the baby is premature or where there are multiple births as I say is a concession but actually you have got to look at what is already being done in this area. I am sorry but I think that the promoter of the bill in conceding that the National Government is doing a really good job in addressing those issues has missed the mark.If we just take a moment to go through what is in fact happening already for families which this Supplementary Order Paper is addressing we think we have got the balance right. So if you are a family and you have a multiple birth if you have twins and you already have another child under 5 or you have triplets or quadruplets the Work and Income multiple birth Home Help payments kick in. They are not means tested. They are available for all those people and that gives real down-to-earth practical help in the home with all those bits and pieces that all of us who have had children know can be so overwhelming in those early days especially if you have more than one baby. So that is the first thing that the Government currently provides.There is the Working for Families tax credit again through the Inland Revenue Department. The department provides four types of payments for families with dependent children who are 18 years or younger and a family with multiple births may well be entitled to those payments depending on the age of other dependent children the family income and where that income comes from. So already there are two major streams of assistance to those families. Plus of course Work and Income has a whole range of extra financial support for those families in special circumstances and multiple births of course are always special circumstances. So there is help with accommodation there is help with childcare and there is a range of other grants. There is already a great deal of assistance for parents of multiple-birth children—twins triplets etc.From the disability angle for families who find themselves with a brand new baby who has a disability we have our Disability Support Services of course which puts wraparound services around those families and there is a whole range of initiatives that the Government provides to give assistance to those families. Time does not allow for me go into the details of that but suffice it to say that there is considerable assistance for those families. Disability Support Services is in the process of putting in a new national specialist behaviour support service for children with challenging behaviour. This is something that I have heard called for consistently in this House. That sort of initiative is under way and is providing assistance and of course the work that is being done around autism spectrum disorder which seems to be expanding as we speak means that a great deal of help and assistance is going into helping those families who find themselves in those circumstances with a newborn who is suffering from some of those disorders.Then the final group that this Supplementary Order Paper is addressing is the premature births. Of course the maternity quality and safety programme has been implemented to make sure that women and their babies get that same standard high-quality care right throughout New Zealand. It was rolled out to all district health boards in 2012 and is funded at $2.8 million a year for 4 years. That is showing signs of local clinical improvement particularly around those women with premature births and we know the extra care and attention that they need.So what I am saying is that as well intentioned as this Supplementary Order Paper is conceding that all that other very specialist wraparound comprehensive care is being provided National unfortunately cannot support this given that there is already considerable help going into these families. We think we have got the balance about right and we will continue to evaluate and monitor the structures that are being put throughout New Zealand with the social sector trials now going from nought to 18 and the Children’s Teams being rolled out. We think we are getting a very good picture of what is actually happening on the ground and so unfortunately we cannot support this bill.