Chadwick Steve: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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Hon STEVE CHADWICK (Minister of Conservation) 
: 
 I am delighted to be given an opportunity to speak to this bill. It was very heartening to hear that the Opposition—which I understand from Paula Bennett’s comments in the House the other day does not have a women’s caucus—does support this bill. It is a very good thing to hear that unanimously everybody on the Law and Order Committee saw the sense behind supporting Sue Bradford’s bill to this second reading stage. 
I congratulate Sue Bradford and the Greens. I think they are incredibly lucky in the bills that come out of the ballot. It is “Eat your heart out!” stuff really because they are great bills and they are about the social fabric of New Zealand. This bill really went to the heart of how we recognise parenting and the attachment of mothers and babies—regardless of what happens on that infant’s journey through life. And these children would be the most vulnerable members of our community. They did not ask to be born into a circumstance where a mother had got into overwhelming trouble and was having to face imprisonment. These children would be the most vulnerable and they deserve the best opportunity in life to break that cycle of the situation into which they are born. So I think it is a fantastic bill which will support that bonding and attachment. 
I want to point out that on hearing Simon Power’s speech I was a bit concerned when he talked about the infant as a possession of the mother. Infants are actually an intrinsic part of both of their parents and of a wider family but the primary caregiver at that vital stage of life whether or not they are breastfeeding is their mother. It would be appalling to separate them or for a child to be seen as a possession—that is not the way we look on these children. It is really important in this bill that we reflect how we can most effectively support these children. I think the Law and Order Committee has done a great job actually in its report back to the House. 
This bill will have a fiscal impact as was pointed out and that is of some concern to us. A little newborn baby can be very very easily accommodated as we all know but once a baby starts crawling walking and exploring the greater world he or she needs access to a very different physical environment. The prison environment is probably not the right place for mothers to be with their children. That comes to the point that Phil Goff raised in his speech—that we need to look at other sentencing options for mothers and children in the first place. Bail and electronic monitoring where these mothers could stay at home with their children in a family environment is of course where we would rather see them. We want to see law changes that support bail with electronic monitoring because to take that unit away from the wider family will set them off on the wrong pathway. 
This is a terrific bill and I think the Committee stage where amendments will come before the House will be a very important process for the House to consider. I look forward to some of the amendments that may be tabled during this stage. I think that this bill builds on what the left—the Greens the Maori Party and Labour—have been saying really about all these initiatives that build strong healthy and resilient families. It also links back to the work we are doing in the Government about family violence. I believe we need more and more programmes to support breaking the cycle of family violence. Access to doctors and treatment for drug and alcohol concerns for mothers is a very important aspect. The Working for Families package is too: when that mother goes home with her little one they need more income coming into the family in order to break that cycle of poverty from which lawlessness often results. 
I think this is a terrific bill. It adds to the fabric of the way we see the building of resilient families and it is putting children at the centre of all policy. I congratulate the Law and Order Committee on this bill I look forward to the second stage amendments and I commend this bill to the House.