Parmar Parmjeet: Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParmar Parmjeet: Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 18 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2378. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this bill. I am rising to support this bill in its second reading. I acknowledge the work that the member in charge of this bill Tracey Martin has done on it. I acknowledge the select committee the previous Social Services Committee and its work that it did in the past term. I also recognise that Tracey Martin has put forward a very genuine concern in the form of this bill. This bill is about the clothing allowance entitlement and parity for orphans or unsupported children with foster children. This bill seeks to make that entitlement clarification through legislation.The purpose of this bill is to increase financial support for kin carers. I believe that this is really vital because if this financial support is not available it can lead to the inhibition of the growth of our children. This is for any kin carers—unrelated caregivers family members or grandparents looking after their grandchildren. I also acknowledge the select committee’s recommended amendments. I was not part of that select committee in the past but nevertheless I like everyone else here in the Chamber understand the issue of clothing. If the clothing issue is because of material deprivation it can lead to an impact on the psychological state of children leading to a lot of other problems. This can happen because children will be hesitant to socialise and socialisation is very important for children because that helps them acquire a lot of skills that are required throughout life. The lack of sufficient clothing can create some mental and emotional issues as well so that can create some prejudice against children. Sadly this may not be under their control if it is due to the financial situation of their kin carers.The National Government has been actively supporting children through the Children’s Action Plan. The issue of providing all children with the opportunities for them to succeed is something we all agree on. Just like my colleagues I want to see all children succeed at all levels and clothing issues can hold them back. Having been actively involved in the community I understand the hardships of our community. I also want to acknowledge the work that kin carers do in looking after these children in unfortunate circumstances. Their job is an extremely difficult one and requires a large amount of empathy in order to come to some realisation of the hardships that one can face and that these children go through. It is really essential that this support is provided to these kin carers so that this support can be passed on to these children in need who have no control over their situation.Sometimes these responsibilities come unexpectedly. I remember during doorknocking while campaigning in the general election that I met a family. These were very elderly grandparents looking after their two grandchildren because of a tragedy in their son’s family. They had no choice but to look after these children with a very limited income. These children do need support. They need to be looked after. The Government recognises the incredible work that family members do to look after these children—those who have lost their parent or parents or who cannot be looked after by their family or their parents. More than 12000 New Zealand children are being cared for by wider family members because of the death of a parent or a family breakdown.Currently kin carers are entitled to assistance to help with the cost of raising orphaned or unsupported children. In 2009 National ensured kin carers got the same weekly amount as foster carers. The National Government is known for delivering value for money and is already working in that direction and looking at exploring options to see how the $10 million capped fund that was announced can be utilised to help children in this situation. To address that the National Government has already set up a ministerial reference group which is currently working through options for how help can be provided to kin carers or how in this kind of situation extra funding can be applied. This extra $10 million that was announced is to help with kin carers’ additional costs. This ministerial reference group also has a representative for grandparents who are looking after grandchildren so that experience is also there in this ministerial reference group. That group will be providing advice on how best to allocate this funding to help kin carers in similar circumstances. This National Government is always striving to deliver for our communities and our focus is the well-being of our families. That is a very vital package of our mission. This is why the Minister for Social Development has asked this ministerial reference group to explore all options to get positive outcomes.There are other recent initiatives taken by the Government as well. One is to make parenting very practical and possible for grandparents. It is very important that grandparents are given the assistance that they need to raise these children because sometimes there is a big gap between when grandparents have looked after their children versus when they have to look after these children in their family. This kind of assistance will be required and some special parenting skills are also required and to provide that assistance Work and Income has now assigned a manager at its national office to work with grandparents raising grandchildren. This is like a one-stop place for grandparents to seek the information that they need and this is really important.The times are changing really fast—we know that technology is changing really fast as well—and how we are raising our children changes really fast as well. And so it is really important that grandparents are able to catch up with the changing technology are able to catch up with new ways of raising children and are able to understand the expectations of children. This monetary support which is for clothing is really important. It is also really important that grandparents learn parenting skills under the current legislation. It is really important that this kind of training is available to grandparents because parenting is a very complex issue no matter how many children one has raised. Every child is different they come with their different traits and so it is a very tricky issue. Therefore this parenting support is very important.For this the Government is investing $600000 a year in a Toolbox parenting groups programme that is especially designed for kin carers. This is a great tool as it provides a refresher course on parenting for grandparents and this training is facilitated by trained volunteers. All this is being done to support the incredible work that kin carers are doing to raise children who are in the unfortunate circumstances of not having a parent to live with them and look after them. I recognise that our children are our future and that is why the National Government is so focused on our children. As I said before there are more than 12000 children in this situation and currently kin carers are entitled to assistance to help with the cost of raising orphaned or unsupported children.Along with this entire issue I feel it is important to provide every child in New Zealand with an equal opportunity of prosperity and happiness. It is essential we focus on our children because they are our future and they will carry our long-term ideas and hopes for our country. So in summary we are already working in the direction to provide additional assistance in areas that this bill seeks to address. As this bill is in line with our objectives I support this bill in the second reading. Thank you.