Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): I am thrilled to open this debate on behalf of the National caucus in supporting the Families Commission Act Repeal Bill and it's particularly encouraging because of course this was work initiated by the National Government as part of its work really to not only invest in families but support families and enable greater use of the research and data and evidence to support them in the future.So this particular piece of legislation as the Minister said is quite straightforward and it wraps up the changes to disestablish the Families Commission which was restructured into the social policy evaluation and research unit or SuPERU in 2014. It is somewhat curious though that the Minister who spoke on the bill talked about the fact that the Social Services and Community Committee progressed it with urgency for which he was grateful. Of course there was no choice in the matter; the Government decided this should be rammed through with a shortened report back which was rather concerning and has become a bit of a common practice by the Government but anyway.So this piece of legislation shows that and moves some of the important work that was being done by the Families Commission and SuPERU. Some of the work has gone to the Ministry of Justice some to the Ministry of Social Development and some to the Social Investment Agency. And I must say it was with great delight that this side of the House saw that the Ardern-Peters Government had decided to continue with the vital work of the Social Investment Agency. It was only established in the middle of last year. But it really signals quite a significant way forward in terms of how we deal with some of the most complex challenges that New Zealand faces and that actually Kiwi families are facing. It's about greater use of data and evidence and a focus on measuring outcomes meaning that we can create a system that provides greater opportunities to intervene earlier and I'm sure this bill will be supported unanimously across the House because who wouldn't want to do that? Who wouldn't want to intervene earlier and change the lives of some of our most vulnerable New Zealanders?So it is really exciting and as the previous Minister the Hon Amy Adams said when she announced the formation of the Social Investment Agency it's not just about Government departments and the way they interact with people and how they support them but it's also enabling the non-Government organisations and I think that's a really important piece that I want to throw into this debate: the Social Investment Agency supports New Zealand; it doesn't just support Government agencies. And one thing that taxpayers do expect and demand is that there are always greater levels of support and greater ways to enable the public sector to better serve those that it should serve and in fact the most vulnerable ones.I thought I would just also bring some comments from one of the submitters and it's actually the Public Service Association who in their submission talk about the bridge between Government agencies NGOs and communities—and so seeing a really important ongoing role for Social Investment Agency in that area. So I thought I would just bring their voice to this debate because they see and value the importance of the Social Investment Agency.The Minister who gave the second reading speech also talked about the child poverty bill and in our time in office there was a significant focus on lifting children out of hardship out of poverty and we had plans to go further. The incoming Government has a slightly different way to approach it; that's fine. At the end of the day New Zealanders want to know that as a Parliament we are focusing on this important issue and the Prime Minister has clearly stated that she wants the child poverty legislation to be supported across the Parliament. So it's really good to be able to work with the Prime Minister on that bill. I know that there will be strong support for the Supplementary Order Paper that includes the social investment principles and the fact that the Social Investment Agency through this legislation is being given more responsibility I think just reinforces why that's so important. It is about targeting support for those that need it most. This is an important and sensible measure. Madam Assistant Speaker I'm pleased to support it.