Bradford Sue: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Bradford Sue: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:609;Page:6386] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 Just last week representatives of the non-governmental organisation umbrella group Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa travelled to Geneva to make a formal presentation to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Among numerous recommendations contained in its excellent report is one relating to article 4 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which New Zealand officially ratified 10 years ago. Article 4 states that Governments must do all they can to implement the rights contained in the convention including taking measures to fulfil the social and economic needs of children to the maximum extent possible given their country’s resources. Picking up on this the non-governmental organisation's report to Geneva contains two pertinent recommendations. The first states firmly that the New Zealand Government should implement a framework in its annual Budget allocations that accounts for its obligations under article 4 of the convention. The second recommends that the Government should prioritise the elimination of child poverty and services for children and youth in its budgetary allocations. 
 How well do this past year’s Budget and the supplementary estimates we are looking at tonight stack up against these recommendations? The Green Party says “not very well” despite some of the excellent reforms that Labour has carried out over the last 3½ years. In a whole range of areas relating to the way we treat our children and the value we place on them we are falling far short. Many of our children and young people are badly impacted by social and economic inequity and still live in poverty—a third of them overall according to the Ministry of Social Development’s briefing to last year’s incoming Government. Too many of our children continue to miss out on adequate access to health education and employment opportunities a situation exacerbated by the housing crisis which disproportionately affects low-income families. 
Just to pick up on one very specific example on looking at the supplementary estimates for the Ministry of Social Development I see that the provision of income support for unemployed unsupported 16 and 17-year-olds was underspent by nearly $2 million. This comes at a time when I continue to hear cases of young women desperate to leave the life of prostitution who are still being denied access to the independent youth benefit. If people in that situation cannot access it I seriously wonder who can especially given this House’s avowed support for exit strategies from the sex industry as shown in a certain other debate we are having in Parliament at the moment. 
I use this example only because I believe it exemplifies an underlying attitude towards children and young people when it comes to our spending Government money on them. In the mental health area the grossest underfunding continues to occur in the area of child and adolescent mental health. The Department of Child Youth and Family Services still has long waiting lists and big gaps in the quality and timeliness of care and protection. Above all child poverty remains despite protection from poverty being a right identified specifically in articles 4 6 26 and 27 of the treaty. The Green Party believes along with many groups in the community that children should not be discriminated against because their parent or parents are unemployed. Family support and family assistance should be made equitable and increased immediately and a universal child benefit should be introduced as a non - income tested non-transferable payment to all primary caregivers. The thresholds on the amount that beneficiaries can earn before losing their benefit should be raised along with core benefit levels. The minimum wage should be lifted to $10 an hour immediately. More needs to be done to increase the level of social housing and improve the access to housing finance of low to medium-income earners. 
I hope that these and many other measures I do not have time to list tonight will be included in next year’s Budget. Surely a Labour Government that is running a surplus and that feels able to pour billions of dollars a year into a superannuation fund to invest on the overseas markets should be able to see its way clear by next year at the latest to prioritise the needs of our children in line with our international obligations.