Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Assistant Speaker. It is indeed a great privilege even an honour to stand in the third and final reading today of the Child Poverty Reduction Bill.I pay tribute to all of the speakers today. As the Hon Tracey Martin has said there is very little politics involved in this debate. But I'd like to especially acknowledge the contribution of the Hon Alfred Ngaro who spoke about his humble upbringing and the situation that he experienced as a child. I think there's quite a few of us in this House who come from similar backgrounds myself being brought up on an old railway house with not a great deal of money. But in those days we were poor but happy.There's no question that across this House we are all combined in our desire to bring our children of Aotearoa out of poverty. This bill certainly sets the way for us to begin that journey. This is a bill of the whole Parliament. I think this is actually an indication of where cross-party agreement really does good for New Zealand. This bill as we've heard actually sets on paper the direction of travel that the National Government was on its journey towards in lifting 100000 children out of poverty. It was a collaborative approach to getting this bill to its introduction with the Prime Minister and the National Party leader Simon Bridges working very closely on some of the details that now form part of this bill that we are debating for the final time here today.The issue of child poverty certainly transcends politics. We on this side of the House are very supportive of the move to enshrine the measures that are now embedded in this bill into legislation. It gives it longevity and it gives it continuity across former Governments into the future. At the core of the bill are our tamariki our children of Aotearoa the most vulnerable that are in our society. So if we are to build a nation of successful and competent people then we must also begin with our children and ensure that they can function without the stresses of poverty.As part of the Social Services and Community Committee visit to Australia earlier this year we were very fortunate to learn about the value of having longitudinal data. That data supports and guides decision making. So in that study that is being undertaken in Australia there are 10000 families participating. In the study—it's called Growing Up in Australia. It began in 2004 and is still ongoing. It covers a range of issues including health and physical development social and emotional functioning family circumstances and relationships learning and cognitive development and emerging adulthood. One of the glaring results that has come out of that study already is that the desire for children—the biggest priority that they had—was to feel safe and to be loved. The measures in this bill will actually give us some longitudinal data over time and it will paint a picture for us.Now lifting child poverty is not just about achieving a one-off target; it's actually about ensuring that the reduction in child poverty is sustainable and we want to be able to hold ourselves up against other countries with low rates of child poverty such as Finland Denmark Sweden and Norway. So this bill is not the end; it is merely the end of the beginning and the real work and commitment to lifting our game for our children starts after the passage of this bill. We must continue to work towards building an economy that creates good paying jobs and gets families off long-term welfare dependency. It is not all about the Government continually throwing money at that issue.We must also continue to support those who struggle with either health challenges—mental or physical—or with disability. And I acknowledge the work and commitment from Alfred Ngaro during the select committee process supported by his National Party colleagues where we were adamant that this bill also reference New Zealand's commitment to our international treaties and conventions and they are now forming part of this bill. I refer to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to and celebrate with Dayaram Ganda and Jo Sholes of Greymouth who've recently been recognised nationally with the Attitude ACC Employer Award who employ staff with disabilities and they now currently have 50 percent of their staff from the disabilities sector. So I congratulate you Dayaram and Jo and your team at BP Greymouth.We also require this legislation to set the legislative framework for lifting our children out of poverty. So this legislation is in fact the what" and what we are looking forward to now is the result and the outcome of the child well-being strategy which is the "how". And that is really the crux of the whole programme towards lifting our children out of poverty. Parliament is taking a major step forward today in the passage of this legislation and I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of the children in New Zealand a safe and very happy Christmas. I commend this legislation to the House."