Peke-Mason SorayaSORAYA PEKE-MASON (Labour): I'm pleased to take a call on the Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Bill; this is the third reading. Firstly given it is the third reading I'd like to acknowledge the Minister the Hon Carmel Sepuloni the Social Services and Community Committee officials staff submitters and all those involved in progressing this to its third reading.This is my first call on this bill and when I look at this bill it reminds me of my upbringing and the struggles of a single parent. In my case raised by a mother widowed very young with five children to raise who struggled. Every cent mattered albeit in this case there was no child support. Nevertheless it is relevant because it's about poverty. Notwithstanding I too know the impacts of a time when I had to resort to Government support at a time where I was left as a solo mum and I too can say every single cent mattered. I'm also reminded of the whakataukī—the proverb—te pani me te rawakore". I just want to acknowledge my colleague Emily who has quoted this already in the House before me and I want to just share with you the meaning of it. It is a kupu o te māngai rāua Piri Wiri Tua—the many followers of the Rātana movement or mōrehu will understand what this means. It is about the poor the struggling the destitute including the widow and the orphan. This bill puts dignity and fairness back into the system and helps those many māmā or pāpā who find themselves raising their child or children single-handed support their children and reduce that burden of raising them.This policy has been around since 1936. It is a policy that has complex pieces of legislation. It is a policy that has been identified as discriminatory and needs to change. It has been viewed as too difficult to change left in the too-hard basket by others—former Governments. We—this Government—are doing something about it.Living on a benefit is not ideal—of course it's not. Who wants to do that? If you've got no choice then you've got nothing else. There are those who have no choice. The Training Incentive Allowance provides opportunity for parents to change their circumstances and we know that there are a lot of examples of that in this world today in Aotearoa and for those former members of Parliament that have been and gone—and those here today.Primarily in a nutshell this bill is about helping those sole parents get the same amount of money as any other beneficiary family. It addresses an inequity issue where other beneficiary family support is not treated in this way. As a result as mentioned earlier on over 41000 sole parent families will have more in their pockets at a time of course when the cost of living is hiked by inflation and that in 2023-24 will see up to 14000 children—yes 14000 children—lifted out of poverty. An extra $20 per week: it may seem like pittance to some which I have said in this House before but let me just say it goes a long way. It goes a long way to getting that extra loaf of bread that extra litre of milk that little bit of extra to help pay for the power along with the subsidy that this Government has in place for those that are struggling out there seriously.I hear the kōrero of some across the other side—clearly many did not have the upbringing that some of us in this House and others had. Am I allowed to say that? Nevertheless some privileged—DEPUTY SPEAKER: We'll let you know when you've crossed a boundary.SORAYA PEKE-MASON: —kia ora—some raised rich in te ao Māori who forget there are many out there traumatised by colonisation that struggle. We know what that means we know what that's about and we know why they struggle particularly in Te Ao Māori. Some will take those struggles to their graves—te pani me te rawakore.In summary what I'd just like to say is to sum up what that actually means in this context. What it means is we are removing a discriminatory policy that withheld child support payments from parents receiving a sole parent rate of main benefit and their children. The Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Bill seeks to ensure that beneficiaries receiving a sole parent rate of main benefit are treated—yes are treated—the same as other beneficiaries in the welfare system. In practice this will mean that child support will be passed on to parents receiving a sole parent rate of main benefit and be treated as income against their benefit. I commend this bill to the House."