Collins Judith: Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Collins Judith: Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19575] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 When I look at this part I cannot help but think of the news this morning about the 20-year-old prostitute struck down by a bullet at Hunter’s Corner Manurewa who was described as a mother of three. I cannot help but think how this part of this bill or indeed any other part will affect her children. 
 I cannot for the life of me believe that that mother has named the father of her three children and she is only 20. I cannot for the life of me believe who is looking after those children while she is out working as a prostitute on Hunters Corner Manurewa in the electorate of the Hon George Hawkins the Minister of Police. I cannot for the life of me understand what she would be making of these particular consequential amendments to the Income Tax Act. 
I understand that the Hon Steve Maharey is known as being someone with whom one can spend 2 hours and come out with screeds of paper as described by John Tamihere and still come out none the wiser because one would wonder what has been said. I do understand that. What we have here is in fact an amendment bill that is nothing more than a reminder; the first acknowledgment ever from this Government that fathers are important. This afternoon I have heard the Hon Steve Maharey in the chair speak as though fathers are important. Yet just before Christmas this year I heard the same Minister stand up and say that there were no reports that he knew of that said that children who are brought up in single-parent homes may have worse outcomes than children brought up with both their biological parents. Yet we in this House know that his statement is simply not able to be backed up by any evidence at all. We know absolutely that children who do not know their fathers or do not have anything to do with their fathers will in fact suffer. And it is not just those children who suffer; it is their children their grandchildren and their great grandchildren—it is generations to come. 
I heard Muriel Newman speak about the unfair liable parent contribution laws. She is right. But the worst thing about the liable parent contribution laws and the most unfair thing is that only 10 percent of the domestic purposes benefit is paid for by liable parents. That is the worst and most unfair thing about those laws. They do not do anything for the taxpayer. They do not do anything for the self-esteem of the really good mums who look after their kids and do a good job and it does nothing for the really good dads who try their very best and give whatever they can to their families even if they are split up. It does nothing for them. It in fact treats those good fathers as though they are fools—mugs. 
This Minister has the gall to stand up in this House and give speeches about how the numbers have come down. Well frankly it does not wash. The amount spent on the domestic purposes benefit under his watch has gone to $1.77 billion. It is a huge increase. Yet we have no excuse at all for people not to have to work in this country. There are jobs. Employers are trying to get people to stand in their shops and sell things to do anything yet there are still people—over 300000 of adult age—who will not work. I do not say they do not work—they simply will not work for a paid income. All the time in this House members will know that they get approached by mothers and fathers on the domestic purposes benefit who will work only 8 or 10 hours a week at a particular job. When we ask them why they will not work more they say they will not work more not because they want to spend more time with their children—after all their children are at school—but because they say it affects their benefit. They would rather take money from the taxpayers than they would earn it. 
That is not good enough and the Minister has stood up in Parliament and said he does not know what our policy is. Well he knows what the policy is in the National Party. It was articulated by Dr Don Brash at Orewa this year. The Minister knows it so well that the next day he came out and said: “What we’re going to do is have a single benefit.” That is what he said and that is all rubbish.