Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:614;Page:10438] 
2.  
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Revenue 
: What message does the Government’s announcement that it will wipe part of the child support debt owed by errant parents on a “dollar for dollar” basis send to struggling solo mothers and their kids who rely on child support payments? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Associate Minister of Revenue) 
: 
 The Government has made no such announcement. 
Katherine Rich 
: In that case with regard to comments that the Minister made to the Christchurch  
Pres 
s 
 how does he explain his comment that the bill proposed for next year will “increase flexibility and parents will be able to write off back debt on a dollar for dollar basis.”? Certainly every individual would think that their life would be more flexible if they were able to forget about their debts. 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: The Government has been canvassing a range of options to encourage parents to pay off child support debts. I will be progressing legislation next year that helps to reduce penalties on an ongoing basis. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: When was the current penalties regime put in place and is it working? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: It was put in place by the National Government in 1992. The growth in debt has demonstrated that it is not working as well as it could be. That is why we are looking at making some changes. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: How does the Minster reconcile his statement that “New Zealand actually has one of the best-performing child support systems in the world” with the dreadful anomalies in our present system which can have a father of 10 children paying a total of $12 a week for all those children while a father of two pays almost $20000 a year in spite of having his children for 40 percent of the time; and will he now consider a comprehensive review of the whole system along the lines of that proposed by Judge Trapski almost a decade ago? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: I believe that in general the child support system is working well. The penalties regime which is a part of it is arguably not and that is why we are looking at reforming it. 
Marc Alexander 
: What message does the Government send to New Zealanders when on the one hand it announces that it will wipe child support debt owed by non-custodial parents and when on the other hand Steve Maharey says “Every father has a responsibility to be emotionally practically and financially engaged with his parenting responsibilities.”? Which one is it to be? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Non-custodial parents who are in general but not always fathers do have a very important responsibility both to their children and their broader families. The Government upholds that. We are trying to make the system of collecting that debt more effective. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I wonder whether the Minister could help the ordinary people of this country out by telling us why if someone is not penalised for not paying his or her debts that person would bother to pay them? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Firstly because parents should love their children and their children need them. Secondly because this Government is not and has never said it will be wiping off all penalties—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. A voice came from over there best resembling a dog with a cleft palate but I think it was Mr Mallard making some allegation. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I just want to say that such comments as were made were out of order. I prefer not to have them recorded in  
Hansard  
but now they will be unfortunately. But since the matter has been raised the member will stand withdraw and apologise for that allegation. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I withdraw and apologise. I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Can I ask you now to elucidate somewhat on what was out of order in my comments—a matter of fact was recorded. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Yes but it was in the second person for a start and that is out of order above anything else. 
Katherine Rich 
: Why did the Minister talk about this proposal to wipe big chunks of debt yesterday—3 weeks before Christmas—when the first thing an irresponsible parent will do is stop paying child support because he knows that the Government will next year wipe out a large proportion of his debt? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: In the first place not all irresponsible parents are he’s. In the second place there are many reasons to continue paying one’s child support including the continued existence of penalties. 
Marc Alexander 
: How will the Government’s announcement that it is wiping child support debt generate any sense of responsibility for the men of this country or is this a twisted campaign to allow them to fertilise flee and forget? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Members of other parties simply cannot have it both ways. One cannot argue on the one hand that we need to do more to recover debt and then criticise when we do so—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! That is the only warning Mr Hide gets today. 
Katherine Rich 
: With regard to his last statement how does the Minister explain to mothers like Christine Hall of Dunedin who have been battling for years to get their ex-husbands to pay child support debts that his big idea to reduce debt is to forget about it? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: Without dealing with taxpayer-specific matters can I say this: the Government is determined to make it both better and easier for people to pay their child support payments. The presence of large penalties can act as a blockage to non-custodial parents re-entering the payment system. It is that blockage that we are seeking to remove. 
Marc Alexander 
: In light of the Government’s announcement that it will wipe child support debt for non-custodial parents who will not pay for their children’s upbringing will he also help to wipe the personal debt incurred by parents who are trying to pay for their children’s upbringing? 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE 
: The presumption of the question is wrong. May I repeat that the Government is not proposing to wipe all debt for people who owe child support.