Sepuloni Carmel: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSepuloni Carmel: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 05 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:669. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston):Thank you Mr Chair for allowing me to take a call on this bill. I firstly want to acknowledge Sue Moroney for the work she has put into this. I also want to acknowledge all of the many credible and important organisations that made submissions on this bill. Listening to Minister Tolley I could not help but listen to her say we have different views on what will make a difference. I am sitting here thinking that our views on what will make a difference should be based on evidence and I have a number of submissions here from the Children’s Commissioner the Human Rights Commission different parenting groups the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Business New Zealand—submissions from a whole range of organisations saying that this is the right thing to do.Like many people in this Parliament I have children and like many people in this Parliament I have a very comfortable middle-class working situation. I was very fortunate for the first 6 months after having my own baby a year and a half ago to be able to take that baby to work to be able to continue to breastfeed and to be able to take that baby into board meetings. That breastfeeding was very important. We know through all the evidence that breastfeeding for at least 6 months is what is recommended not only by the World Health Organization but by our own Ministry of Health. Our own Ministry of Health advises that we should be breastfeeding for at least the first 6 months.In my little middle-class existence I was able to do that because of my own working environment and support from my employer. But so many of our people out there—our women out there—are working in jobs where that is not possible. They actually do need some assistance from the State to be able to do what is recommended by the State which is to be able to stay with their child and exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months.Yet here we are listening to the Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley tell us that we all have different views on what will make a difference. Well actually there may be different views on that side of the Chamber but the rest of New Zealand including very credible organisations have a very clear view that 26 weeks of paid parental leave as a bare minimum should be something that those Government members over there should be supporting. Again I acknowledge Sue Moroney for pushing this bill forward.We have heard arguments in the lead-up to this bill being discussed in the Chamber about how that side of the Chamber perceives it as being fiscally irresponsible. But when we go through the submissions we see very clearly that actually it is fiscally irresponsible not to support this bill because of the consequences of not supporting parents to be able to stay home and look after their children if it is in their best interests and their child’s best interests and if it is what they want to do. Instead what we had when Sue Moroney announced her 26-weeks’ paid parental leave bill was that the Government tried to compromise an evidence-based position around 26 weeks by saying that it would give 18 weeks instead knowing that the bill is actually popular with the public and not only popular with the public but also based on evidence.I am really disappointed with the National Party. I am really disappointed because there has to come a time when we can actually look at legislation and provisions that need to be put in place and surely use our common sense—not quoting New Zealand First there—and make a decision that is based on the well-being of New Zealanders. There are so many repercussions for parents not being given the opportunity to stay home with their children in that first 6 months in particular. We see evidence from places like the Brainwave Trust in terms of how important that bonding is. There is all of the evidence that comes with breastfeeding and the fact that in the long term it actually has a positive influence on a number of different health areas for the child including things like protecting them from allergies. The longer you breastfeed the less likely children are to get things like eczema and asthma and a whole lot of other respiratory things. In the long term it actually saves us money if we are ensuring that right from the start in those very first 6 months we are looking after—