Doocey Matt: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — Recommittal Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDoocey Matt: Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill — Recommittal Third Reading[Sitting date: 25 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1949. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): I rise to take this call on the third reading of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave) Amendment Bill. This is the first time I am speaking on this bill. I must say probably like many viewers and listeners at home listening to that last member of Parliament I am very confused and probably not terribly interested in the he-said she-said they-said—what happened. At the end of the day I think viewers and listeners are interested in what is going to happen. I think it is right that this Government supports our children. It is right that this Government protects that parents have the time with their children. I think it is right that this Government promotes attachment between parent and child. But at the end of the day a country has to live within its means. The Opposition can have all the best intentions it wants for social policy but if you do not have the money to pay for it it is just all talk. That is what we have listened to—just all talk.Last year I had the amazing experience of witnessing the birth of my first child a fantastic experience that I am sure many people in this Chamber have experienced themselves. I was very proud to be in a country that supports parents and supports parents to spend time with their children. I know for myself it was great to watch my wife enjoy some time with our child and enjoy some time off work. My wife did not qualify for paid parental leave but she did qualify for parental tax credits. I cannot say I have spent much time in the dirty world of politics that that member was referring to—more the dirty world of changing nappies. But I have a lot of pride in being part of a country that is supporting parents to stay home with their children.I know for a fact that it is valuable for children to have that attachment with their parents. I worked at the Tavistock Clinic in London where the attachment theory was developed by Bowlby. We know that parents spending their time with their children the attachment is part of children’s emotional development and their mental health development. I am very proud to be part of a National Government that is committed to giving children the best possible start in life and a Government that is prepared to extend parental leave but in an affordable way. We have always said that where we can afford it we will do more—where we can afford it we will do more. I think Budget 2014 was a good example of this where we invested $500 million more into the well-being of children and young people in this country. When we can do more we are doing more. This Government is extending and will extend paid parental leave in a way that is affordable.Budget 2014 provided a comprehensive package of measures focused on young people and those who need the help the most. What this Government is doing is providing 4 weeks of extra paid parental leave. This will happen in two steps. The first will go up to 16 weeks on 1 April 2015 and then up to 18 weeks on 1 April 2016. Not only that but we are increasing parental tax credits by $70 a week to $220 a week. That will be extended from 2 weeks to 10 weeks. The fiscal cost of this is $180 million over 3 or 4 years and a further $30 million to increase paid parental leave eligibility following that consultation process. What we are doing is realising that you cannot throw money at everything. When I went to the state of the nation report a couple of weeks ago it said that child poverty was tracking down. It was not tracking down because benefits had increased; child poverty was decreasing because of job creation. So that is why we are modernising paid parental leave. We are modernising it in relation to modern working arrangements. This is why I do not support this bill