Loheni AgnesAGNES LOHENI (National): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Today we stand to pass a series of provisions that we should simply not have to do because the Oranga Tamariki Legislation Bill deals with the end result of lives of abuse and degradation that so many children in New Zealand face today. The specifics of the bill that we are supporting at third reading today deal with youths who have fallen through the cracks and ended up in the justice system at the beginning of their adult lives. What a waste to have to have this bill yet we must have it because the youths this legislation deals with have committed serious crimes punishable by sentences of 14 years or more. Yet these youths are not the product of chance. They are not an unavoidable consequence of growing up—not all. These children these young people were placed on paths laid down by the parenting they received the abuse they faced the lack of care in their lives. It is beyond comprehension that any healthily raised child the product of supportive parents supportive households supportive whānau and friends and a supportive society could end up committing heinous crimes such that they face a sentence of 14 years or more at the age of 17. Let's think about that fellow members of this House. Let's for a moment put aside our political colours and think about our own children. Let's ask ourselves what we would have to neglect to do with the raising of our own children to have them facing a prison sentence of 14 years or more. Let's ask ourselves what we as parents would want should we have been responsible for placing our children on a pathway that would lead them to the prospect of prison at the age of 17. There's no ifs and buts—we would want them taken out of circumstances that would lead to an awful outcome such as prison and placed in a caring and supportive environment to ensure the best possible life prospect for our children. That's what Oranga Tamariki is really about: trying to get the best possible outcome when a child's life circumstances see them bereft of the parenting that would enable them to lead healthy productive and loving lives. Let's not kid ourselves. This bill is not even the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff; rather it is the undertaker taking away the cadaver of a life that could have been. It is the undertaker taking away the remnants of hope of dreams of desires that all children have for their lives that are then shattered by horrible decisions these same children make in their youthhood that see them facing 14 years or more in prison. Even in the worst of upbringings children still see others leading good lives and wish desperately that that was them. Of course this is not all children raised in depravation. My heart soars every time I hear a story of a child refusing to be a statistic through force of will determined to walk the path of goodness of decency of compassion and through strength of character able to steer away from a path that would see them otherwise exposed to the provisions we are dealing with today.Yesterday in the Social Services and Community Committee I asked the Hon Tracey Martin What does change look like? What is transformation?" I asked in tears not to put the Minister under the spotlight but out of distress and wanting to make a difference so I wouldn't have to read about the lost lives of children and other abuse we hear too often in society today. The Minister replied in tears herself because the murder of a baby in our country is not only distressing; it transcends politics. It forces the Minister and I as mothers to face the reality of poor parenting in this country and it forces us to have to work collaboratively to try and put an end to this horror and to make the provisions we are passing today obsolete. The bill before us today is but part of a wider attempt to stem the tragic loss of children's lives at the hands of people they need to be able to rely on to bring them to the fullness of their lives. This bill is but part of an attempt to ensure the provisions we are passing today do not have to be used by the courts for children who have fallen through the cracks. This is not about politics; this is about trying to stop the relentless stories of child murders child abuse and those abused children becoming the perpetrators of crime that the provisions before us today deal with. There are no winners in the passing of these provisions today. There is only tragedy. Oranga Tamariki is about supporting families to prioritise stability education and engaged and connected parents and extended families to ensure a child never need to be removed from his or her home and to never be subject to the provisions we must pass today. It's about moving us as a society that in the future does not have to wake the news of another child murdered another child abused another youth standing ready to be convicted of a crime that their dysfunctional upbringing and inability to make good decisions set them on that path. Mr Assistant Speaker I commend this bill to the House."