7. Question No. 7—Social DevelopmentANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 7—Social Development7. ANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour) to the Minister for Social Development: What reports has she seen on the Government's Families Package? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): The Families Package monitoring reports monitoring the Government's Families Package were publicly released today. The $5.5 billion Families Package was announced within the Government's first 100 days and kicked in on 1 July last year. The Families Package monitoring report shows that working New Zealanders with children are getting more support from this Government and parents on benefit are getting more support from this Government. It shows that senior citizens are getting more support from this Government. It shows that Māori are getting more support from this Government. We are on track to lift 50000 to 74000 children out of poverty and to ensure that New Zealand really is the best place in the world to be a child. Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki: Just how much of a difference has the Families Package made to low and middle income New Zealanders? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The $5.5 billion Families Package puts more money in the pockets of New Zealanders that need it the most and gives targeted support by boosting incomes with the Working for Families tax credits: 6000 more families received the family tax credit—220600 in total—and they got more money taking the pressure off for families in their child's early years with the Best Start payment which is $60 per week. We increased paid parental leave to 26 weeks so that parents have more time to bond with their babies. We're helping older New Zealanders and people on a main benefit to heat their homes with the winter energy payment people receiving the accommodation supplement got on average an increase from $71 to $98 a week and we increased the rate of orphans benefit unsupported child's benefit and foster care allowance because we value the people that are caring for our children. Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki: How has the Families Package supported people on benefits? Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Parents on benefit receiving family tax credits from the Ministry of Social Development have seen an average increase of $41 per week. This is the largest increase since Working for Families began in 2005. On top of this people on main benefits along with superannuitants receive the winter energy payment which has helped over 1 million New Zealanders keep warm in winter. The Families Package is just part of the Government's plan to lift the wellbeing of all New Zealanders including those in the welfare system. We have committed to indexing benefits to wages. We repealed section 192 increased abatement thresholds and funded an extra 263 work-focused case managers to get people into sustainable work. We've made it free for every child under 14 to go to the doctor and increased school funding so parents don't have to pay for school donations which will help 416000 families. By the time the Families Package is rolled out in 2020-21 385000 families with children will be better off by an average of $75 per week.