Dunne PeterHon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future): There are 60000 new New Zealanders every year for whom we do not do enough. These 60000 are a diffuse group. They have no clear spokesperson or organisation backing them. Some of them are living in very inadequate housing others are subject to all sorts of assaults and vile abuse and yet no one speaks up for them. It is time we changed our attitude. Before the xenophobes and the bigots start to rise to the bait let me say that I am talking about the number of children born in New Zealand each year: 60000 new New Zealanders. Those young New Zealanders have no choice about the circumstances of their birth or the nature of their upbringing but we owe it to them to provide them with all of the wherewithal to enjoy a fruitful and prosperous life. Sadly as the core of our future they often get overlooked in the debates that take place in this Chamber and for that reason I welcome the initiative taken last week by Judge Caroline Henwood and Sir Mark Solomon to launch a covenant for our nation's children. I want to share with the House a couple of statements from that covenant because I think they go to the heart of the concern and the focus that we as a Parliament ought to have upon the future of our children: We the people of Aotearoa New Zealand make a solemn and enduring covenant with our nation's children whoever they are and wherever they may be in equal measure those children who are born and those born in the future. We as New Zealanders undertake an unconditional duty to do all in our power to ensure that all our children are treasured respected and enjoy a good life full of opportunity in a nation that is diverse and rich in culture and aroha." There can be no more profound statement about the functions that we seek to perform than a commitment to the children as the future of this country. Around 24 percent of our population is under the age of 18. Just under 70 percent of our young people are lucky enough to be brought up in a two-parent household. Just under 20 percent are raised by a single parent or in other groupings. As I said those children do not choose the circumstances of their birth but every child has an equal right to access to opportunity in this country every child has an equal right to access to quality healthcare and education every child has a right to good housing and good prospects in life and our challenge—and that is what the covenant recognises—is to focus our efforts afresh on delivering those policies. I am conscious of the work that my colleague to my left the Minister for Social Development is doing in the area to try to bring children to the centre of Government policy-making and I applaud that. I welcome it but it is a long-overdue initiative. But the important point about it is that by focusing on our children we then start to focus on the nature of our families our communities and all of the support and other systems within those communities that enable people to function effectively. We do not have isolated debates as we do today about housing provision law and order or migration. They are all connected into a focal point of saying "Let's serve the interests of our children because they are our future." and therefore we can put all other policies through the prism of how they affect children. I noticed last week when the covenant was released that there was a rather large measure of silence to greet it. I would have expected in the quiet of the adjournment more passion from politicians who profess concern about our country's future to get in behind this charter because it provides a way forward. What we are seeing around the world now is a reaction to the sort of "Up you!" politics that the Trumpists and their acolytes in this country are seeking to follow. In Britain under the former Liberal Democrats leader Paddy Ashdown a More United movement—that is what it is called—has been developed with the express aim of supporting moderate progressive politicians across the political spectrum to stamp out extremism and focus on the real issues. Our children are our most basic real issue. It is time we focused afresh upon their needs."