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: 20 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18082. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) to theMinister of Finance: How will the changes to the Parental Tax Credit he announced in the 2014 Budget help those who as he states are at “the hard end of poverty”?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): The extension of the parental tax credit which applies to 15000 families will assist those who are at the hard end of poverty if and when they are able to get into work. The parental tax credit extension is part of a package that has five elements and three of those are available to all children and all families regardless of parental income—for example free doctors’ visits and prescriptions for under-13s as well as significant investment in protection for vulnerable children. As it happens the member I know has a view that a lot of the families covered by the parental tax credit still have children who are “in poverty” even though they do have some work income.Jacinda Ardern: Why do those at the hard end of poverty in work deserve help but the up to 14000 who are at the hard end of poverty and who have not been able to find work not deserve support from this Government?Hon BILL ENGLISH: In fact this Government has devoted more new spending over the last 2 or 3 years to those families than any previous Government has through practical support and the welfare system. For example every sole parent under the age of 20 has a supervising adult in their life funded wholly by the Government. That person or organisation has the purpose of ensuring that that family gets their power bills paid that they have some kind of stable housing that they are protected from violence and that their social issues have some opportunity to be dealt with at the cost of $7000 per head per year for each of the now around 3000 sole parents under the age of 20. Their children are among the most vulnerable in our community and they now have extensive support from the Government.Jacinda Ardern: What additional income support have the 14000 families at the hard end of poverty received from his Government in this Budget or indeed in any Budget?Hon BILL ENGLISH: They have received an increase in their benefits consistent with the increase in the CPI over the last 4 or 5 years despite the fact that we have had a pretty tight Budget. They benefit from increased early childcare subsidies which I think have doubled in the last 5 years in cost to the Government. If the simple transmission of cash was the answer to all these problems we would have no poverty because for 30 years Governments have been increasing the payments per child and benefit payments for these families. That is why this Government has taken a much more targeted and individually supportive approach to helping people out of persistent deprivation.Jacinda Ardern: Does he agree with Dr Nikki Turner that free doctors’ visits and prescriptions will do little to reduce child poverty without also improving the incomes and the housing conditions of the very poor; if not why not?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Government has had a very strong focus on improving particularly the housing conditions for the most disadvantaged through the insulation programme which has meant that every single State house that can be insulated is now insulated and through a 5-year programme of discussion with the community housing sector about how we can more efficiently help more people in serious housing need and we continue to make changes in that respect.Jacinda Ardern: Does he agree with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland a group that deals with people struggling to make ends meet that the Budget does not address the root causes of poverty or does he consider a CPI adjustment for those at the hard end of poverty to be sufficient?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I respect the voice of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church and I expect it to be better informed than a lot of other spokespeople for pretty obvious reasons. In fact when I put money on the plate each Sunday I know that some of it is going to our critics and that is what you expect in a robust democracy. But I think it would be interesting to have a discussion about what we believe the root cause of poverty to be because if it was just a lack of cash then we would have solved the problem years ago. In fact this Government is focusing in on those things that lock people into poverty which are welfare dependency no educational achievement and victimisation and regularrevictimisation through crime. We are digging into those long-term causes. Of course where we do have the capacity to provide more cash support we have such as $500 million for families in this last Budget.