Barnett Tim: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Barnett Tim: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:625;Page:20661] 
6.  
TIM BARNETT (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
 to the  
Minister of Justice 
: What initiative is the Ministry of Justice taking to deal with trauma and adverse impact on children caused by the separation of their parents? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 The Government is conscious that parental conflict and separation can have traumatic effects on children particularly when one parent seeks to turn children against the other parent. The Budget we are expecting tomorrow will provide $6.2 million over 4 years to provide a nationwide programme through the Family Court to help parents reduce conflict and the impact of separation on their children and to counter the damaging effects that these things can have on children’s well-being and social behaviour. 
Tim Barnett 
: What evidence does the Minister have that such programmes are effective and constitute a good investment of public funds? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Parent programmes of this nature have run very successfully for a number of years in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In New Zealand last year the Auckland Family Court Association ran a pilot programme called Children in the Middle. It produced an increase in parental knowledge about the impact of separation and conflict on their children a reduction in parental conflict an improvement in the behaviour and the well-being of the children and an extraordinarily high rate of satisfaction for those who participated in the pilot. We have every reason to believe that these very positive results can be replicated across the country with major human and social benefits as a result. 
Judith Collins 
: Can the Minister confirm that the $6.2 million package averages out at about $1.5 million a year which—based on for example this Government’s Families Commission expenditure—would pay for two billboards and a survey; and is not today’s announcement just a half-hearted attempt to adopt Dr Brash’s policy of a much broader introduction of parenting skills courses for troubled families? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The answers are no and no and I regret the negativism of the member. This funding will allow up to 8000 couples a year to be referred to that programme. Far from being half-hearted the programme will operate across almost every Family Court in the country. The member should be more supportive and less carping and negative. 
Judy Turner 
: Can the Minister confirm that a national roll-out of the North Shore Children in the Middle pilot programme as proposed by United Future would mean that parents who are separating would be given positive strategies to protect their children from conflict; and as 97 percent of participants in the pilot said they thought the programme should be mandatory will he consider implementing my member’s bill that would make involvement compulsory for parents seeking these orders? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I can confirm the very positive things that the member said about the programme in the first part of the question and I welcome her support for it and the support of United Future. In respect of the second part of the question I have to say that it is not intended to make the programme as introduced mandatory but if the evidence of the positive results that we certainly expect of this programme shows that it should be a requirement for every separating couple I would certainly consider that.