Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): I rise in support of the Families Commission Act Repeal Bill. I want to acknowledge for the New Zealanders who are tuned in to Parliament this evening that this is an example of where the Government and the Opposition agree on something and we vote together to pass good legislation through the House. I want to acknowledge that this is a piece of legislation that National initiated because we could see that it was time for the chapter on the Families Commission to close and for a new book to be opened. And so when we think about what that new work is and where the closure of the Families Commission will take us I think the first thing we acknowledge is that families remain at the heart of the work of Government and always should but that we don't need a special agency to do that work. It is fundamentally our job as parliamentarians to ensure that the impact on families and the well-being of families are at the forefront of our policy decisions.I want to reflect on the Social Investment Agency which is one of the agencies which will take over where the Families Commission left off and I want to acknowledge the tentative moves by the Government to continue the work of that unit. Now while criticisms have been hurled from the other side about the social investment approach that unit still exists and its work programme continues. I think all of us would do well to remember why its work continues. As the Rt Hon Bill English once said For too long as parliamentarians for too long as Governments have we been prepared to simply service misery to accept that there is misery in our families and our communities to spend money on it to invest money in it and to praise ourselves for our good intentions." Well good intentions aren't good enough. The work that matters is the work that actually makes a difference and changes lives and that is fundamentally what social investment is about.In a similar vein we have the place-based initiatives which will continue once the Families Commission is repealed. You know what the Rt Hon Bill English used to say about these? He used to say "We know their names. We do not need to spend all this time funding separate agencies separate initiatives and separate programmes to go off and solve this problem or that problem. Actually there are people in our community who we know need our help and who we can do better for. We shouldn't have eight cars up their driveway; instead we should have one car up their driveway." So it is that approach that says "Let's invest where we most need to where we can most make a difference" that we on this side of the House dearly want to see continued for the good of New Zealanders.Similarly that is the work of Whānau Ora and so we are disappointed that that approach to family well-being hasn't had the emphasis it could have in the Budget.Hon Peeni Henare: Has the member visited a Whānau Ora commissioning agency?NICOLA WILLIS: And that's for you to sort out isn't it Peeni Henare? I think that that is for the Minister to sort out. I don't want to be there when you're having those debates in your Cabinet. I'm sure they'll get heated but look you know—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! We're not debating the Budget. Come back to the bill.NICOLA WILLIS: I'm sorry—I'm sorry Mr Assistant Speaker.So when it comes to Whānau Ora that is an initiative which is about family well-being which is work that will continue once the Families Commission is repealed and it is an acknowledgment that after that commission has gone good work for families can continue.I want to briefly touch on the Growing Up in New Zealand study because again that is work that was once overseen by the Families Commission and that will now continue under other agencies. Here we have a study that provides us detailed information about what sorts of interventions can make a difference in the lives of children. Here we have a study that gives us information about everything from language to the whānau living arrangements to what goes on in the first thousand days of a child's life. I want to commend to this House that it is incumbent on all of us to read that research and to understand that research so that we don't just come up with policies that seem like a good idea but come up with policies that actually make a difference to people's lives. That's fundamentally what the work of social investment can be once the Families Commission is gone.Like other speakers before me I want to acknowledge Sir Peter Gluckman Dame Tariana Turia Haami Piripi and Jo-anne Wilkinson who worked on the Families Commission—[Bell rung]—and I commend this bill to the House—sorry I still have a minute to go.So most families in conclusion do do a great job. They seek out opportunity and they grasp it but there are some families who need more help. They know that both sides of this House want better for them but it is this side of the House that is fundamentally endorsing a social investment approach. We would encourage members opposite to continue that approach. Thank you."