Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I am pleased to be speaking in this final reading of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill. I want to start with both a bouquet and a brickbat. The bouquet is that I do think it's fitting that the first piece of legislation for a new Government to complete is one that supports families. The brickbat however is I think it's a crying shame that this first piece of legislation is also one that's been done under urgency without the ability for the public to engage. Once upon a time the Greens were always very very outspoken about legislation that was put in this House without scrutiny without the ability of the select committee to consider it.Sue Moroney introduced a couple of different member's bills on this particular issue but as we've seen with the work of two of my colleagues the first being Sarah Dowie you actually see the opportunity of the important work that the House in its entirety and all of the members of Parliament bring. That's a process particularly for the new members of Parliament that they possibly haven't had the opportunity to witness yet—the really valuable work that occurs in the select committee both with the ability of individual select committee members to contribute to great law but also for them to consider the very wide-ranging views of members of the public and their ability to contribute to improving the law.It's somewhat puzzling in this particular instance where the Minister responsible for the bill was kind of open on one hand and closed on the other—open to Sarah Dowie's suggestion for the amendment to increase the number of days available for keeping in touch but then completely not open to the suggestion of also supporting the second parent. I do say second parent"—in many cases it's a dad; it's not always. The reality is that in New Zealand we have families of all shapes and sizes and I think it's a really important period of time and I think it's a really sad day in terms of missing the opportunity for the ability for a family to bond.I say a family—yes it's the newborn; yes it's the parent that gave birth to that child and may or may not be breastfeeding; but it's also the second parent and in many cases if it's a subsequent child it's a really important time for the whole family. For those who think back to that important time in their lives often it was the important period of supporting the other children in the family. For some that's a big adjustment when they have a baby brother or sister that joins their clan so the ability for the second parent to provide that support I think is critical. So it's somewhat puzzling that we have a Government that says they're interested in supporting families and dads and second parents but actually then haven't been willing to do the work when this legislation doesn't come into effect until 1 July next year. It seems in this case that the trade-off has been the quality of legislation that we could've otherwise had and that is the fundamental ability for families to make choices based on their own circumstances. Those circumstances are wide and varied and the House could've given greater flexibility for families.If I reflect on the changes that have been made actually over the last 20 years in this space I think we've made extraordinary progress both with the two increases in duration in our time as well as the extension of flexibility—that's really critical—but I suspect we're seeing a bit of a recurring theme here. I hope I'm wrong; I really hope I'm wrong—that we're not seeing a recurring theme here of a Government that is disregarding dads. The Minister for Children who spoke earlier in this debate laid claim to New Zealand First's big push on dads and their rights and actually earlier today confirmed that the Government is committed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which include the right to know their parents. So this is an absolutely missed opportunity for dads. It's a missed opportunity for the Government. I'm hopeful but I'm not optimistic that the words that the Minister in charge of the bill has spoken about in terms of their enthusiasm for fixing this problem with pace—I'm hoping that those aren't just empty words.I do think this is a great day for families and I am very pleased to speak in support of the bill."