Ngaro Alfred: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Families Commission Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 19 March 2014. Volume:697;Page:16811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National):Kia orana Mr Assistant Speaker. In light of the comments by Mr Prasad I would say that the Opposition has been going on for some time about the issue of perception. I suppose Mr Prasad there is an issue of perception in that one may perceive that there is a conflict. Anyway—Dr Rajen Prasad: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. After my having made a personal statement is it in order for the member to then refer to that and deride it in the way that he has?The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson): Can I say that once a personal statement is made then that is it and there should be no further reflection on the member. It has been accepted by the House.ALFRED NGARO: I just want to make a couple of points though to the member who just spoke just in regard to his comments about one of the commissioners. He raised this as a conflict of interest. We know that the election period officially is around about 3 months out from an election. That person who is a commissioner did not declare during that period of time that they were going to be a candidate. So again I just want to reiterate the point that OK there was no conflict in there.There are issues in the fact that inside the commission itself there is a senior staff member who is a candidate for the Labour Party for Ōtaki. Now in regard to that action has been taken place a declaration has been made and the right appropriate processes have been put in place. With regard to the commissioner that process was not in place because the commissioner had not officially acknowledged that they were standing. So I think that it is a bit of an anomaly. It is politicking that is going on.But I want to get straight to the point on this bill the Families Commission Amendment Bill which I think is of importance. Denise Roche the previous speaker actually talked about the issue of independence. We know that the Families Commission is still bound by the Crown Entities Act of 2004. There is no evidence in the things that she has been talking about—conflicts or independence being taken away. In fact I also want to talk about the fact that Sir Peter Gluckman who has been highly acknowledged and recognised for his skill and his independence has clearly said that he confirmed commented on and also celebrated the shifts and the changes in the commission in terms of the direction that it is taking.The Families Commission has not changed its intent. The new statement of intent clearly declares the fact that the Families Commission has an exciting new mandate to act as a catalyst in New Zealand’s social policy—a clear focus and direction. None of that has been removed. None of that has been taken away. I think that what is very clear and what is exciting is the fact that we are now seeing that this is going to be focused also on an evidence base.Mr Prasad talked about the fact that the Families Commission was managing contracts. It is not managing contracts. In fact if anything it is monitoring and evaluating research that is evidence-based and does make a difference. If he had read the full report he would have seen that the commission is also to focus on issues like Pacific families and problems there. In fact today we had the Retirement Commissioner talk about the importance of this evidence this collaboration in dealing with the issues of families in our communities. If Mr Prasad had read even further he would have seen that there is the Families and Whānau Status Report 2013 which is absolutely important when talking about the high rates of family mobility and transience in our communities. Again this is clear evidence of what we are bringing to the conversation and the discussion for decision makers around this.The last thing that I want to talk about is the longitudinal study which I think is absolutely important. Mr Prasad talked about this and said that there was no need. Mr Prasad knows that the fact is that the longitudinal study also needs to have a champion. It needs to have a champion. I will say this. Minister Maharey in a former Labour Government commissioned the blueprint report. I was part of that blueprint report. Over 2 years when we developed that one thing that it lacked in its implementation was a champion. We have now got a Families Commission that is taking on the role of Growing Up in New Zealand which is absolutely critical.Jacinda Ardern: Peter Gluckman’s taking it over.ALFRED NGARO: It is the right role. Ms Ardern knows it Mr Prasad knows it. This is a critical role. We think that the changes that have been made focus both the intent and the direction of the Families Commission. That absolutely does make a difference. It is evidence-based it is independent and we are actually seeing the results already. I am looking forward to this bill being implemented. In this third reading of the bill in the House I commend the bill to the House.