Ardern Jacinda: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Ardern Jacinda: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 29 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4872. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) 
: 
 In the light of three hard-hitting reports in as many weeks the best we can get from the Government is mockery. At least Minister Joyce has moved away from his laminated cards for one small moment to spend a little time talking about a party that actually has an economic plan. We have seen an absolute failure from that side of the House to adequately respond to the needs of New Zealand families which have been highlighted in reports as diverse as the Ministry of Social Development’s own report on household incomes in New Zealand. The report has shown that material deprivation under that Government has moved from 15 to 21 percent. That is the inability of families to do basic things like going to the doctor like filling prescriptions and like keeping their homes warm. 
But if the Government chooses to use another measure—and this is a controversial point for that side of the House because measurement is not something they would like us to focus on—such as income on a basic measure as to whether or not New Zealanders have enough income to survive 25 percent of our children are now living in poverty. That is an absolute disgrace. Not only is it a disgrace but it is costing us dearly. So as much as that Government claims that we do not have the money to address this issue we actually cannot afford not to. Infometrics tells us that we are spending— 
Mike Sabin 
: A family on $50000 income parents with two children: tax neutral. 
JACINDA ARDERN 
:—Mr Sabin $6 billion per annum on children getting a poor start in life. If that Government wants to save money for taxpayers the best thing it could do is address under-investment in our most vulnerable children. And we are under-investing. We spend roughly half of what other OECD nations do on our smallest most vulnerable children and we pay the price of that and we pay it poorly. Not only do other OECD nations pay just a little bit more than us they get much better outcomes. 
So what is my challenge to that Government? Do not ignore the facts. That Government stands up and says that simply by moving people into work problem solved. Well let us look at how it has done that: welfare reforms that actually will not even on the best estimate get welfare numbers down to the level that Labour when in Government left them in. Labour left welfare in a better state than that Government is even aspiring to: 17000 people on an unemployment benefit versus 50000 now. Its own targets are not even aspirational enough to get it back there. First welfare reforms alone are not going to solve it. Second is being in work is enough? Not according to the statistics because two out of five children in poverty are already in the homes of the working poor. That means that that Government’s focus on getting people into work is not even enough for people to survive these days even with two members of the family in work. Wages are disgracefully low in this country and that Government claims that job creation and its economic growth strategy is helping working New Zealand families. 
Mike Sabin 
: How many initiatives has that member opposed to grow the economy? Oh that’s right all of them. 
JACINDA ARDERN 
: Do you know how it helped Mr Sabin? In the past 3 years poverty went static the middle went backwards and those on high incomes went up. That was not the global financial crisis Mr Sabin. That was an economic policy that was focused on two things: trickle-down and tax cuts for those who did not need them. That was your economic plan and our children are paying for that Mr Sabin. 
What else has the Government proposed? It has proposed immunisation insulation and at best maybe it might consider lunches in schools. These are short-term solutions to long-term problems. That Government does not want to acknowledge that rheumatic fever will not be fixed by swabbing. 
Mike Sabin 
: Lots of talk no walk. 
JACINDA ARDERN 
: It will be fixed by decent warm houses and you are doing nothing on that Mr Sabin. That immunisation is actually just moving the ambulance around at the bottom of the cliff. We have got to get to the root cause of the issue and that is something that this Government does not want to do. 
This Labour Party in the last election put forward a comprehensive policy on children. We proposed many of the things that the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty has proposed and we are not afraid to continue promoting them on behalf of those most vulnerable in New Zealand. We will start with a target to reduce child poverty. We are ambitious. We have unfinished business and we will see it completed under a Labour Government.