1. Question No. 1—Child Poverty ReductionMARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Child Poverty ReductionORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Child Poverty Reduction1. MARAMA DAVIDSON (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction: What is her response to the finding in yesterday's Child Poverty Monitor report that around 100000 New Zealand children are doing it really tough"?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Minister for Child Poverty Reduction): To be honest I would say that probably more than that would be doing it really tough in New Zealand but I do welcome the contribution that the Children's Commissioner continues to make using the Child Poverty Monitor as a way of highlighting the ongoing situation of many children and their families. I am pleased that in the very near future we are looking with the support of all bar one member of this House to pass the Child Poverty Reduction Bill. It will lay the foundation for greater transparency accountability and action on child poverty.Marama Davidson: What will her Child Poverty Reduction Bill do to actually turn around the appalling outcomes for kids across education food housing health and incomes?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: The member is right to point out that it's not just about income although that is the basis and grounding of the legislation. It requires successive Governments to make sure that they gather the data on child poverty. There has been issue with the data available in the past couple of years so it puts that requirement on Government that they are then recorded as part of the Public Finance Act alongside each Budget and then that a strategy and action plan around reducing child poverty is set out in the public domain as well. Thanks to the contribution of the Opposition we will be including additional indicators beyond income so we will look at things like education health and housing as indicators of child well-being and areas of action that we need to lift the well-being of all kids. Marama Davidson: Is she confident that the work of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group will lead to the transformational changes we need if we are serious about addressing child poverty?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I certainly think that there is a lot of expectation around that working group's eventual report. Of course we want to ensure that we have a tool and an opportunity to deliver for children who are living in households where the main sources of incomes are benefits. We know that children in poverty are overrepresented amongst that cohort so I have high expectations and hopes that they'll deliver some options and opportunities for us to really both improve the system but also improve the lot of children living in benefit-dependent households. Marama Davidson: Does she then support the Children's Commissioner's recommendation of indexing child benefits to wage and price inflation like we do for superannuation? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It is certainly fair to say that this country hasn't experienced the same level of income poverty for our superannuitants and that many who are advocates for children put that down to that indexation. I don't want to pre-empt what the working group will do and the recommendations that they will make but as I've said I do have some hope that they'll bring suggestions to us that will mean that we can improve the well-being of children. Marama Davidson: Does she agree that the big increase in the number of food grants being given to families this year shows that incomes from both benefits and low wages aren't enough for families to get by on? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It's definitely an indication of need. What we of course will see over time I'm sure is that because of the Families Package which came in on 1 July—it's the most significant change to the incomes of those low and middle income earners using Working for Families in over a decade: 380000 families on average receiving $75 a week once it's fully rolled out. We've also increased the minimum wage. We've brought in the winter energy payment. We've brought in things like extensions to paid parental leave. There are a number of changes that in our view will start having an impact but we have to be absolutely clear: there is still need out there and there is more work to do."