10. Question No. 10—Social DevelopmentHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social DevelopmentQuestion No. 10—Social Development10. Hon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) to the Minister for Social Development: When will she be announcing which 26 or 27 of the 42 Welfare Expert Advisory Group recommendations she has commissioned work on and are these in addition to the three announcements on 3 May 2019?SPEAKER: I have been warned this is a longer-than-normal answer.Hon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): On 8 May Minister Henare responded to a similar question citing a then up-to-date list of the recommendations from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group where work was already under way and other recommendations for which work had been commissioned. Since that announcement in the House the member will be happy to know that further work is now under way to help address recommendations six 18 21 and 29 and work has been commissioned on a further five recommendations. These are one two four 24 and 31. This brings the total number of recommendations where work is under way to 19 including announcements made on 3 May and recommendations where work has been commissioned to 10. We will continue to commission work and consider all of the other recommendations as we develop our three- to five-year plan that will sensibly address recommendations in the report through a systematic overhaul of the welfare system that is effective and enduring and that ensures those who need to access Ministry of Social Development (MSD) support are actually better off.Hon Louise Upston: Is the Government considering changing the principles of the Social Security Act which include the principle that work in paid employment offers the best opportunity for people to achieve social and economic well-being".Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: The overall phase two of the plan is something that the member will have to wait for. I've already announced in the House that that will be something that we will discuss more fulsomely and publicly later on in the year but with regards to the principles and the way in which they could potentially guide our system better than what we've had in the past I think all of us should be open to considering those things. On this side of the House we're very focused on making sure that those that need financial hardship support get it but that also they get support to go into meaningful and sustainable employment.Hon Louise Upston: Why did the Government decide to index benefits to wages rather than the Consumers Price Index (CPI)?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: That's a very good question. The answer to that question is that clearly wages have increased at a greater rate than what they have to CPI. So this is an indication of a fairer welfare system that this Government is committed to. We don't want to see people thrown into further hardship. We don't want New Zealanders who access the welfare system to be left further behind. It was a very important systematic change and something that I and this side of the House are very proud of.Hon Louise Upston: If indexing benefits to wages means an extra $11 per week per family on average by 1 April 2023 how much would CPI have provided in comparison?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: It would've provided less but I don't have that actual figure in the House and if she wants to put it in writing I'd be more than happy to respond to that.Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What work if any is under way to address recommendations related to Māori and the welfare system?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Around a quarter of MSD staff and over one-third of MSD clients are Māori. Getting things right with and for Māori is important to the whole of the Ministry of Social Development so we rolled out Te Pae Tata MSD's Māori strategy and action plan. It focuses on earning the respect and trust of Māori forming genuine partnerships with Māori and supporting Māori aspirations. Māori reference groups have been actively engaged in the roll-out of our front-of-house design changes and we continue working on things like engagement plans for iwi new models of case management and reviewing the procurement of services to better meet the needs of Māori. This is not a tick-box exercise for us; this is about systematic change and genuine ongoing engagement and we are committed to doing the work and getting it right.Hon Louise Upston: What is CPI?Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: Consumer—[Interruption] Consumers Price Index thank you very much member. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Yeah—no we will keep going but I'm just contemplating the quality of that."