8. Children Young Persons and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill—UpdatesJAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentChildren Young Persons and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill—Updates8. JAN LOGIE (Green) to the Minister for Social Development: What changes if any will she make to the Children Young Persons and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Bill to ensure a whānau-first approach after she announced yesterday that she had nuanced" the current Bill too much?Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Social Development): As I said earlier I want to assure all members of this House and the public that a child's safety and best interest will always be placed first. I think it is far too early to talk about what changes I would make to the bill given the Social Services Committee has only just started hearing submissions on it. I have said all along that the best outcome for all tamariki is to be with their whānau or hapū in a safe stable and loving environment and the bill makes this clear by stating: "whenever possible the relationship between the child or young person and their family whānau and usual caregiver is respected supported and strengthened …". I intend to let the select committee go through its process. Jan Logie: If she is not backing down on the reforms to "whānau first" principles then what did she actually mean when she said they were too "nuanced" and what can we expect the Government members of the select committee to start advocating for?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I expect that the Government select committee members and the non-Government select committee members will treat any submitter with respect and listen to the points that they are making both in support of the bill—as I understand most of the submitters are—but there may well be details about the legislation that they want to particularly focus on. My expectation is that that happens with any bill that goes before a select committee; that is part of our process.Jan Logie: Given that the official advice on the bill says there is no significant fiscal impact from these reforms how will she resource the necessary cultural and structural changes to enable social workers to work effectively with Māori to find safe placements for tamariki Māori? Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Well that has been the topic of conversation as I have been around the country talking with iwi with Māori organisations—with a wide variety of organisations. And as I have said to them the bill enables all of those opportunities to work in different ways to work in partnership and to share responsibility and accountabilities. But this is a 4 to 5 year process. We are not going to rush it. We are going to co-design it with many of those organisations. Like any organisation we put a Budget bid in last time which we were granted and we are in discussions with the finance Minister again for this year's Budget and I anticipate that every Minister of this Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki will continue to have those conversations with the finance Minister about how you resource what it is that this piece legislation and the new ministry are trying to achieve.Jan Logie: On that note will she commit to working closely with Māori organisations such as the Māori Women's Welfare League as well as hapū and iwi to ensure that any changes the select committee might come up with are right this time?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Well in the end this Parliament decides what changes are right for the bill. What I can commit to and have committed to in meetings with iwi and organisations including the ones the member has mentioned is that we do want to work with them which is why we have put into the legislation the opportunities and the responsibilities exactly to work with them.Jan Logie: Given that she is wavering on "whānau first" and clearly got the plans to collect individual sexual violence client data wrong will she now also back down on the information-sharing proposals in the bill which the Privacy Commissioner has said may be unworkable unnecessary and put some children at greater risk?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I do not think there is a member of this House who does not want to have the safety of a child as their absolute first consideration.Jan Logie: Then why did the Minister ignore the Privacy Commissioner's advice on these specific provisions in the bill that told her that it could potentially put children at risk?Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Look I fail to understand why the member has no respect for the select committee process which absolutely allows members of the public and organisations to come and have their say about a piece of legislation. This is a significant piece of legislation and I think that that is reflected in the quality and the breadth of submissions that are being made to the select committee. I intend to respect that process."