Stewart Barbara: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 19 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First):I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the third reading of the Families Commission Amendment Bill. Yet again we have been left disappointed with this bill. There have been no substantive changes made that would make us or even enable us to reconsider our position on this particular bill. I have listened very carefully to the speeches from the opposite side but nothing concrete has actually come from there. As we have always said New Zealand First opposes this bill because to date the commission has failed to make any worthwhile difference for families. A practical difference has not been evident. Replacing seven Families Commissioners with one will not have any positive effect on the operation of the commission. Basically any impetus for change in the commission has been negated. Of course as we have heard one must then question the overall independence of the commission from the Government.Ironically the support and work that the Families Commission has provided is already being undertaken by the Ministry of Social Development and in New Zealand First we have to question whether the Families Commission is really worth the investment when it does much the same work and research as the Ministry of Social Development. We all know that duplication of effort is wasted in these strapped economic times but I must say that I was very pleased to hear a National speaker stating that this was not going to happen. So we will be watching this area with great interest. We believe that the Families Commission basically is no longer worthwhile and that its continued existence cannot be justified.Today is quite a sad day for the Hon Peter Dunne. It was one of his conditions of his supply and confidence agreement with one of the previous Labour Governments that the Families Commission actually came into existence. So it appears from the outside that the Hon Peter Dunne has finally sold out his Families Commission when ironically he has always been in a position of influence in every Government to ensure that it functioned appropriately that it was financed appropriately and that it could meet the objectives that were set. So it is quite a sad day for the Hon Peter Dunne. Wherever your efforts were Mr Dunne I have not seen them yet.In 2014 looking on it is now time that we worked towards protecting the family in times of widespread poverty rather than taking steps that would be detrimental and taking money away from this area. In New Zealand First we believe that the Families Commission Amendment Bill actually undermines efforts now to protect the family unit and children. Families requiring assistance will look to the commission for leadership only. They will be disappointed. Although it may be economically and politically more desirable to minimise the number of commissioners to a lower number we do not believe that that number should be pared down to just one. Of course a number of the Families Commissioners have already signalled that they will be leaving the role and heading into politics—into Parliament—so it is quite timely for them but it leaves a big gap in the Families Commission. What we are actually going to see is a major revamp of the role of the Families Commission and one has to ask whether it goes far enough. Do we really need this Families Commission particularly when one of the Opposition parties—Labour—is talking about creating another organisation?Hard economic times are upon us. We have heard that story many many times. Research in these hard economic times has to be forward and focused and the money could be better spent towards research elsewhere. And of course there is a total limit for the amount of research that can be carried out. Somewhere along the line we do want to see something practical from these organisations. There seems to be a total lack of consideration of the fact that the issues and themes on which a research unit will be focused are totally interrelated and of course they cross many social sector boundaries. Because many of the social issues are interrelated it would make far more sense for the Ministry of Social Development to use that amount of available funding wisely and with consideration of this particular fact.We look at some of the studies that have been carried out by the select committees. The White Paper for Vulnerable Children which the Ministry of Social Development produced last year contains issues and themes that are directly linked to the work that the commission carries out. Of course we have to take note of the recent Health Committee report. Again it points out to the Families Commission a way to go. I know that the Māori Affairs Committee has also carried out research in this area. All of these solutions are starting to surface and complicate the work that the commission administers especially when we are going to have only one commissioner overseeing the entire body. Of course this will inevitably have dire consequences on the expected outcomes for the commission. Here in Parliament we will most likely be re-evaluating the work of the commissioner in the future.What we are seeing is that version one in 2003 did not work out. So we have got version No. 2 which is supposed to be leaner and more focused—or so we are told. Our best hope is that version two of this Families Commission is going to be monitored on a very regular basis to ensure the best possible output and outcomes and that monitoring is taken to ensure that the direction that this new Families Commission is going to take is worthwhile for New Zealanders. There is definitely a limit as to how many versions of the commission there can be before New Zealanders lose their confidence in it totally. Version No. 2 almost reaches that limit. Greater emphasis needs to be put on promoting and carrying out groundwork that creates better understanding and ensures better outcomes for all New Zealand families. We know that New Zealand families are experiencing considerable social and economic hardship. Changing the governance of the Families Commission and reprioritising its budget is only going to complicate it further.In New Zealand First we would like to see an agency that would be useful to New Zealand families for the money that is spent. We will be carefully monitoring the outputs and ensuring that the money is not spent on consultants to travel at the expense of these families. It is for these reasons that New Zealand First is opposing this bill.