Kanongata'a-Suisuiki AnahilaANAHILA KANONGATA'A-SUISUIKI (Labour): Kia ora e Te Mana Whakawā. It's an absolute privilege to stand here tonight to speak on the KiwiSaver (Foster Parents Opting in for Children in their Care) Amendment Bill. I want to take this opportunity to thank the member Hamish Walker for his passion and his due diligence in bringing the voice of the young child who is in care the foster parents that he's been speaking with in terms of ensuring that the young person is involved in KiwiSaver.Before I speak on the bill I want to acknowledge that this is Youth Week and to wish all the young people in New Zealand a happy Youth Week. The theme for this year is called We are more than what you see"—"We are more than what you see". According to Manaakitia a Tātou Tamariki—or the Office of the Children's Commissioner—there are 1124040 children under 18 in Aotearoa New Zealand. That's about 23 percent of our population: 71 percent are New Zealand European Pākehā or New Zealander; 26 percent are Māori; 15 percent Asian; 14 percent Pacific peoples; and 2 percent Middle Eastern Latin American or African.I'm talking about this because I want to drill down to what the members on the other side speak about these vulnerable children—over 6000 are vulnerable because they do not have KiwiSaver. The fact is that every child born in New Zealand has a guardian—so all 1124040 have a guardian. The only time that person is not a natural guardian is when the court decides who the guardian is. So let's just say for the young people who are from the age of zero to 17 it is 847740—what does that mean? That means that unfortunately the State has determined—an assessment has determined—that 6401 children are in need of care and protection and that's when the State intervenes. With the changes to this bill it means that 500 out of those 6000 children actually have the State as their guardian.To get a passport in New Zealand the guardian has to agree to that. To open a bank account the guardian has to agree to that. To turn off a lifesaving machine in hospital a guardian needs to do that. If the intention of the bill was to allow every foster parent to open a KiwiSaver account for every child in their care it's an erosion of the natural right of a guardian of a parent. I myself am a guardian of a 13-year-old. If for some reason she ends up being in my sister's care and they determine that she is a foster child that means that my sister can open a bank account for my child which means that anybody who could be a short-term carer for a child actually can open that which is over a million children.I just want to urge on the point that they talked about which was that these children want the same rights as every other child in New Zealand. Well wake up—they do. That's why the State's in there—that's why the State is in there to ensure their rights are upheld. Unfortunately in my experience as a social worker or as a manager or a senior adviser in Oranga Tamariki children are moved from home to home because for some reason it didn't work out with that caregiver. Now that is not saying it's because they weren't enrolled into KiwiSaver. It's because something along the way didn't work.I do want to acknowledge you Madam Deputy Speaker because you were the Minister when the changes came through through the white paper then the green paper then we made the changes. I was privileged enough to be working and serving these children.I heard this member from across the other side talk about the presentation from VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai where we had two children who are currently in care speak about their experience. The submission of Jennifer Thonrithi who has no family in New Zealand who is a current child in care who is now at university—what she said in her submission was that caregivers need to listen to young people. She said that caregivers need to listen to young people as well. We had the manager of VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai—I know her very well—Tracie Shipton. She spoke about the things that weren't working. The things that weren't working were obtaining birth certificates obtaining IRD tax numbers. But I was able to share that day that every child who the State pays board payments for is automatically provided with an IRD number because there is actually a liable parent that needs to pay those contributions. So really it was good and hopeful to hear from the ministry from Oranga Tamariki that they are working on those.Really we talk about KiwiSaver now as if it's something that's just common—KiwiSaver is common like KiwiBank KiwiSaver. We talk about it but it was the Labour Government that brought it in in 2006. Unfortunately when it came in I didn't take up the option to enrol my child so that she was eligible to get the $1000 with it. The original intent of the KiwiSaver was a kickstart for our children for all our one million children which then the people across the House when they got into power—they just deleted it and changed it and then started talking about KiwiSaver like it was their idea.I want to come back to the bill in terms of changes to guardianship in section 110. Guardianship: it's the sole guardianship by the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki. I think you can count; it's probably not even 100. But the ministry informed us that this bill will in fact allow 500 children and young people in the care of the chief executive to be enrolled into KiwiSaver and I think that's a good thing. The remaining children actually already had a guardian who could do that and sometimes from my experience in Oranga Tamariki to have a guardian who no longer has custody of their child fight to have that right to have a say in their child's life is the only connection the child has to their whakapapa. If we take that away—if we take that away—then what is there left for this child for the children who are in care for all 6400 children?I want to share in my final comment that the reason why I became political was because I firmly believe that the Labour Party—that this side of the House—actually can lead this country better and I believe that we do support this bill. We support it to the point that yes 500 children will benefit—children who are in care—and we're saying no to any other alternative arrangement that is outside the law.I want to bring it back to say we can do better. We can do better. We can do better for our children in care and I want to acknowledge the Minister for Oranga Tamariki in terms of her leadership in taking us into the next phase of what I mentioned before with the white paper the green paper and the Vulnerable Children Act that now is Oranga Tamariki. Those are the stages where we're going. It now needs new leadership and I commend the Minister in terms of taking us forward in this journey but I do support this bill and I commend this bill to the House. Malo."