Bridges Simon: Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBridges Simon: Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee[Sitting date: 15 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17948. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Labour): I moveThat the Budget Measures (Financial Support for Newborn Children) Bill be now read a second time. As I set out in the first reading of the bill it is fundamentally about providing increased—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): I am sorry to interrupt the honourable Minister. [Interruption] Order! Sorry to interrupt the honourable Minister. The time has come for me to leave the Chair.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: As I set out in my the first reading speech on this bill this is fundamentally about providing increased and targeted support within current economic conditions for working parents with newborns. This bill provides more targeted assistance for working mothers and caregivers of newborn children to ensure families with a newborn are supported to give that child the best possible start in life.I would like to take this opportunity to outline in more detail some of the broader work we will be doing around the paid parental leave system. It is the combined impactof the changes made by this bill and the broader changes that will start to see significant benefits for modern working families. As I mentioned earlier I am developing further changes to ensure New Zealand’s parental leave framework better reflects modern working arrangements in today’s diverse family structures.The proposals will be consulted on with employees and employers and other New Zealanders later this year. Specifically I intend to consult on proposals that would see parental leave payments extended to people in less regular jobs such as seasonal and casual workers those with more than one employer and people who have recently changed jobs.The proposals would see primary carers providing permanent foster care akin to adoption such as Home for Life parents people who have permanent guardianship biological fathers and grandparents caring for grandchildren eligible for the leave providing they meet the work test criterion. The proposals would allow employees to work limited hours or days and keep up skills development during their paid and unpaid leave period. Also they would allow workers who have been with their employer for more than 6 months but less than a year to be entitled to some form of unpaid leave.I am aiming to have these changes in place by 1 April 2016. By that time this legislation will be fully implemented and better supporting families. The paid parental leave entitlement will be at 18 weeks and the changes to the parental tax credit will also have been in operation for a year by that point. The Government believes that these amendments will benefit New Zealand through providing working families with newborn children the financial certainty and confidence needed to take the time off work to care for and bond with their children. Further these changes will produce positive social and economic benefits in a fiscally responsible way. I commend this bill to the House.