Ardern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Jacinda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 10 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15350. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) to theMinister for Social Development: Does she stand by her statement that “I do not think that anyone denies that there are children living in this country at a standard that we do not find acceptable”; if so what specific targets if any will she set in light of the Child Poverty Monitor released on Monday?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development): I do stand by my statement and as I have said in answer to question No. 1 we have a number of targets that we think are helping to reduce child poverty and put them at the centre of our work. But in light of the Child Poverty Monitor which was released yesterday there was no new information in that. In fact all of the information was taken from the 2013 Ministry of Social Development household incomes report. So there was nothing new in it that changes what we are doing today.Jacinda Ardern: Which of her public sector targets will decrease the number of children living on less than 60 percent of the median income?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Well reducing welfare dependency would be one that would make a difference for those children. I think that the economic growth work is some of the most important work that will happen as long as we are getting businesses that are able to employ more people pay better wages and have better productivity. That is actually what counts the most. We want to see those children living in households with better incomes. The best thing that we can do is support the economy and support jobs so that that can happen.Jacinda Ardern: What will her Government do to address low wage rates in New Zealand given that 40 percent of the children living in poverty are being cared for by adults in paid work but who are still not earning enough to survive?Hon PAULA BENNETT: That is why we are maintaining Working for Families. We have also got the accommodation supplement of $1.2 billion 40 percent of which goes to low-income working families and we wish to continue that level of support for them. They can also access hardship assistance when they need to. We are also looking at what we are doing for budgeting services. But without a doubt I repeat that it is actually our economic agenda that supports businesses so that they have better productivity and can pay better wages which will make the biggest difference for those families.Jacinda Ardern: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was very specific. I asked what her Government was doing to address low-wage rates not tax credits or redistribution.Mr SPEAKER: The member asked what the Government is doing to address low wage rates and the Minister responded with Working for Families the accommodation supplement and the economic agenda.Jacinda Ardern: Point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: I have ruled that that question has been addressed. I am happy to accept—Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I find it very hard to work out how that addresses a question—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. [Interruption] The member will resume his seat. I have already given an explanation. I think the question was asked quite legitimately and it was addressed by the Minister satisfactorily.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Can I just clarify that if the member is disputing a ruling I have just made I will take that very seriously.Grant Robertson: I am trying to understand what the rules are in the House around the relevancy of answers and whether when someone asks a question about wages it is OK to talk about something in another policy area such as tax credits.Hon Members: Point of order.Mr SPEAKER: No I do not need assistance from either Minister. What I have determined—clearly not to the satisfaction of the member—is that the member asked what the Government is doing to address low wages and the Minister took the opportunity to talk about other programmes that she considers have an effect on a household under low wages. That is a satisfactory addressing of the question. If the member wants to ask a further supplementary question that is the way to get into the detail of it. It is not to argue that the Minister has not addressed the question particularly when I have ruled that the Minister has done so.Jacinda Ardern: What does she consider to be an unacceptable standard of living in terms of income?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I do not have an income level that I am here with but what I would say is that we have one of the most generous welfare systems in the world. I suppose you could look at it in Inland Revenue Department terms where it has a level of income but obviously what we think it is with the benefits system and that level of income is what we would see as a minimum.Jacinda Ardern: When will she finally accept that her public sector targets are doing nothing to address the core issue of child poverty that insulation does not mean that you have enough money to turn on the heater that immunisation will not stop you contracting an infectious skin disease and that giving money toKidsCan does not lift low wages; if so is it time to accept that everything her Government is doing is papering over child poverty rather than addressing it?Hon PAULA BENNETT: No I do not. In fact what we have seen in the last 3 to 4 years is that it has actually flat-lined and I think that it is remarkable when you think about the extreme conditions that this country has been in that we have actually managed to maintain that level of support for those children and their families. What we are seeing now is that real attention and you can see that it is turning round economically. I repeat as I did my question: do you want to know how wages are raised? It is that businesses can afford to pay employees more and the best way you do that is to support businesses and to actually put the right things—Jacinda Ardern: It’s not working.Hon PAULA BENNETT: Well actually it is working. There is absolutely no doubt about it that we will see those children being better off and in the meantime we will be targeting assistance to those who need it most.Sue Moroney: Why has her Government contributed to—in her own words—“children living in this country at a standard that we do not find acceptable.” by cutting in half the meagre incomes of over 2700 parents since 15 July alone because they did not meet work obligations such as travelling 40 kilometres to attend a monthly Work and Income seminar?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Yes we have obligations for people who are on benefits because the best thing that we can do is to support them to get off. If they cannot once a month actually make an appointment at Work and Income then they have very much no hope of actually getting a job. So yes we have clear expectations. We give them plenty of time to know when their appointments are coming up and we expect them to be fulfilling them. If they were putting their children first they would be there.