Beaumont Carol: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBeaumont Carol: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 26 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18956. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour)to the Minister of Justice: Given the magnitude of the problem of family violence is it acceptable to her that none of the Family Violence Death Review Committee’s recommendations from their last annual report have been completed and no action has been taken on a number of recommendations around funding family violence training for professionals and addressing the need for better multi-agency practice addressing family violence?Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice):The member is incorrect. To suggest that no action has been taken is wrong. It is also wrong to expect the recommendations to have been completed within 1 year as many of them call for work to be ongoing. The Ministry of Justice the New Zealand Police the Department of Corrections the Ministry of Social Development the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education are undertaking a large body of work to address family violence. Agencies have been working together to develop a comprehensive range of initiatives which we expect to announce shortly. On the training front this Government’s Family Court reforms included a review of domestic violence programmes to upskill providers and there is ongoing training across all agencies to improve the response to family violence. In its report the committee also commended better support for victims of violent crime. This Government is committed to putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system. In the past few weeks this House has passed legislation arising from the Victims of Crime Reform Bill and the Victims’ Orders Against Violent Offenders Bill and as I have said there are more initiatives to be announced in a few weeks.Carol Beaumont: Regarding the statement by Professor Julia Tolmie chair of the Family Violence Death Review Committee that “The most disturbing death reviews for me are ones where the woman is quite clearly fighting for her life. She sees that she’s going to die and she is ... actively taking every action she possibly can to save her life. She’s contacting the police she’s telling landlords she’s telling neighbours she’s telling friends ... and we are not providing her with effective help.” is the Minister satisfied that the Government is doing enough to effectively protect women in these circumstances; and will she reconsider implementing the recommendations around better multi-agency practice?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well I thought I had made myself clear. I do not believe that anybody has done enough on this issue which is why this Government is taking it extremely seriously and will have a range of announcements to make in the very very near future.Carol Beaumont: Given there are on average 35 deaths from family violence per year and many of these deaths are preventable does she agree with the Family Violence Death Review Committee’s call for a radical change in the way our country responds to dangerous and chronic cases of family violence; and when can we expect a comprehensive Government response?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have already answered that question. I wish that member would listen and take this issue seriously.Jacinda Ardern: Given this report finds that children who witness intimate partner violence are psychologically damaged by it why do they receive no ongoing counselling or support within their foster care or Home for Life placement—an issue frequently raised with me by foster parents and caregivers?Hon Paula Bennett: That’s not true across the board.Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well I understand from Minister Paula Bennett that that is not true across the board but I would also say to that member though that if she just waits for a short period of time she will see the Government’s comprehensive report.Jacinda Ardern: Why is every family violence notification referred by the police to Child Youth and Family not automatically acted upon when this report notes that a child who witnesses violence deals with effects that are “more disturbing than the effects of direct physical maltreatment.”?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well that question should really be directed to the Minister with responsibility for Child Youth and Family—Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: I can anticipate it but—[Interruption] No I will hear from the member.Grant Robertson: As you know this question was put down for the Minister for Social Development and was transferred by the Government. It is a question about the review and the review report. The Government has chosen the Minister to answer this question. She should be able to address it.Mr SPEAKER: Order! I want to clarify this. Speaker’s ruling 152/1 is very clear: the Government has the right to transfer a question but not if in any way it then obstructs the answer. So now we have a situation where I am going to invite the member to re-ask the question but I ask the Minister to reflect on the answer that then says “Well it is not my responsibility.” That should have been considered at the time the Government made—[Interruption] Order! That should have been considered at the time that the Government made a decision to transfer it. I will invite Jacinda Ardern to ask the question again.Hon JUDITH COLLINS:I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. With respect the supplementary question that the member has asked is a long way away from the initial primary question and I think that that is the issue. The Opposition has chosen to ask a primary question about a particular report particularly around domestic violence and Ms Ardern has chosen to take a particular part of family violence—child abuse areas—and to ask a specific question about that. That is the issue.Jacinda Ardern: Mr Speaker—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I do not need assistance. I am going to give the member a chance to ask the question in a minute. I do not entirely accept that answer from the Minister in that when I look at the fourth annual report—and this information was obviously in the hands of the Government when it decided to transfer the question—it notes that this is indeed a multi-agency matter. In fact most of the recommendations are for Child Youth and Family which is leading the response. I invite Jacinda Ardern to re-ask the question.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I just want to be very clear on what your ruling now might mean for the Government’s ability to work out who might be best to answer a question. The anticipation here was that we get questions about action taken as a result of the review and the primary responsibilities for that overwhelmingly lie in the justice portfolio not with the Ministry of Social Development. We made a genuine transfer to try to create an opportunity to get the best information to the House. The fact that the member decides to pick on the back end of the question and then start saying that the Minister cannot answer it really indicates that the question here is far too long in the first place and not at all specific.Mr SPEAKER: Order! My job is to ensure that all questions get the best possible answer. The member himself in the point he has just raised said that the Government’s decision was that the best possible answer would come via the transfer of this question to the Minister of Justice. I then invited the member to ask the question again but the answer then that “I don’t have that information. It would have been better if the answer was given by the Minister for Social Development.” means that I would have to think very carefully about a transfer occurring in the future if I felt it was unlikely we were going to get the answer the member deserves.Jacinda Ardern: Point of order—Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: I will hear from the Hon Gerry Brownlee; then I will hear from Jacinda Ardern.Hon Gerry Brownlee: The problem that you present to us now is what if you have questions that are set down to the Minister of Justice that end up being police questions? What if you have questions to the Minister of Defence that end up—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I can explain that. What we have here is the report of the Family Violence Death Review Committee. It is as I said across multiple agencies but most of the responsibilities in the document I have are led by Child Youth and Family. I expect the Minister having accepted that she wants to answer this question which is the prerogative of the Government then to be in a position to answer the question. Jacinda Ardern wants to speak to the point of order?Jacinda Ardern: No you have resolved that. I will re-ask my question. Why is every family violence notification referred by the police to Child Youth and Family not automatically acted upon when this report notes that a child who simply witnesses violence deals with effects that are “more disturbing than the effects of direct physical maltreatment”?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well I do not have the detail to that as I have made pretty plain.Carol Beaumont: Is she comfortable with her position—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Could the Minister stop yelling across the Chamber. I have asked Carol Beaumont to—[Interruption] Order! If the member wants the privilege of staying to answer the rest of the questions we will have less interjection.Carol Beaumont: Is she comfortable with her position that “Protection orders are pieces of paper and if breaches of them aren’t treated seriously by the courts then there is nothing we can do.” when the Family Violence Death Review Committee says there needs to be improvement in the police’s enforcement of protection orders?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am absolutely comfortable with my position on this. As the member well knows I had a very close family member who had a protection order out on her former husband. He killed her. So I will not be lectured to by that member about protection orders.Carol Beaumont: Will the Minister reconsider Labour’s recent call following the Glenn report—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I do not want to have to deal with that member again. Carol Beaumont would you simply ask your question.Carol Beaumont: Will the Minister reconsider Labour’s recent call following the Glenn report and the Family Violence Death Review Committee report showing an average of 35 deaths per year to establish a cross-party task force to address the rates of child abuse and domestic violence in New Zealand?Hon JUDITH COLLINS: My colleagues and I are very happy to come up with ideas to help to fight family violence. If that member has any I am happy to listen to them.