Auchinvole Chris: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAuchinvole Chris: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18931. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National):It is indeed a pleasure to follow Sue Moroney as we begin the Committee stage of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill. This is a bill that I like to think we—the Government Administration Committee that worked on it together—can call a bill that can be shared. I do not think Sue Moroney has said anything that we would not agree with in a different financial situation.I would like to say at the very beginning that it was a bill that received a lot of attention from the select committee. We received excellent advice from the advisers we had and Sue Moroney put a huge amount of personal effort in which I would like to acknowledge. There was also a really good atmosphere at the select committee and everybody worked very hard to I guess make the best of it that we could.Perhaps the difficulty with it—as I started to say but I think the member Sue Moroney was engaged in conversation—is that the timing perhaps is the crucial part of this bill in terms of the political climate that it is born in. We have just seen a—Mike Sabin: No pun intended.CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: No no pun intended. We have just seen a Budget that has come through. It is forward-looking positive inspired inspirational and inspiring. It is a Budget that we can all be proud of and participate in in the knowledge that it is targeting and it is targeted. It is selfless in that it does not seek to glorify the author; rather it seeks to authorise attention being given to discretely measured sections of our population and our overall New Zealand family—people who need help. I honestly think that the parts of the Budget that I am referring to and we will look at those in detail in a moment can be embraced by both sides of the House because they are very sensible things to do—they are very sensible things to do. Let us examine just a few aspects of the Budget that are of particular benefit to families. There was that “do not play political games” remark and I accept that Sue has been through a difficult time with this bill but—The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Order!CHRIS AUCHINVOLE: Sue Moroney has been through a difficult time with this bill and I understand that. It was difficult for all of us but it is $500 million we are talking about in terms of family support.So let us see the sorts of things that we have got in the Budget. The Government is committed to doing its part to give children the best possible start in life. Extending paid parental leave could certainly do that and nobody whom I have heard has ever said it is a silly idea. No one has said that. I do not think it is right to paint the Government in that particular colour. It is a matter of time affordability and priority. Investing almost $500 million more in this Budget in the well-being of New Zealand’s children and families is at the heart of Budget 2014. Families will benefit from a growing economy offering more jobs and higher wages. It is also appropriate that they are amongst the first to benefit from extra Government spending as the economy picks up.Budget 2014 provides a comprehensive package of practical measures focused on young families and those vulnerable children who most need our care and protection. The things that are included are free general practitioner visits and free prescriptions for children under 13. I remember when I had children under 13 and it is a huge lift to know that that care is there. There is 4 weeks’ extra paid parental leave and that is extended to caregivers other than parents. There is an increase in the parental tax credit by $70 to $220 a week in total and it is extended by 2 weeks to 10 weeks. There is $155.7 million more for early childhood education to get more kids participating and keep fees down for parents. There is $33.4 million extra to support vulnerable children. It includes eight—