Collins Judith: Vulnerable Children Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCollins Judith: Vulnerable Children Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 17 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13387. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice): I am going to take a short call on this matter. I do so specifically to deal with some of the issues that have been raised by the member who has just resumed her seat Jacinda Ardern in regard to the Vulnerable Children Bill and in particular creating the new civil order called a child harm prevention order. I think that if we look at the background to this we can see why this is absolutely necessary. Perhaps before I start into that I will just assure the House that this matter will be going through the full Social Services Committee process. I welcome the debate and the tone of it so far.More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty actually but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child or the child of somebody else either or of harming them. Because of abuse a child under 2 is hospitalised every 5 days in this country—this country the best country in the world except for children who are abused. Every year Child Youth and Family substantiates 22000 cases of physical sexual and emotional abuse and neglect in this country of plenty this country of free education this country of opportunity where some children’s lives are destroyed by either their own families or the people whom their families allow into their homes often because those families do not even realise what they are dealing with.If we are going to look at poverty as an excuse have a look at the convicted paedophile James Parker the well-respected teacher from Northland who has destroyed the lives of families children and young men. It does not just stop because the offending stopped. It never stops because every single day of those victims’ lives they live with what that man has done to them. Of course it does not affect just them; it affects their entire families who now look to see what it is that they could have done differently. Well they are not the perpetrators; they are also victims but who can blame parents for wondering whether they could not have done something differently and whether or not that might have saved their child.So I would like to congratulate the Minister for Social Development the Hon Paula Bennett on the work that she has done in this area. I join with Miss Ardern in noting that she has undertaken an unprecedented amount of consultation in this area on a matter that I think concerns all right-thinking New Zealanders who cannot for the life of us understand how anybody could harm a child on purpose. How could this be? The child harm prevention order is something that will be controversial for some. I make no apology for working with Minister Bennett on this area and I congratulate her on having the courage to bring this matter to the House.These orders aim to protect children from being abused or neglected by very high-risk adults. How many times have we heard of a child being killed or very seriously abused and then learnt that the perpetrator had a history of children in their care dying being killed or being seriously injured? How many times do we hear it and how many times are we going to hear it before this Parliament really does sit up take notice do something about it and do something to protect those children? What is more these orders are a very clear example of our commitment to keeping people safe and reducing crime because an ounce of prevention in this case is going to actually save a lifetime of misery particularly for a child.Currently available mechanisms do not always properly address the risk posed by some individuals. The tools either focus on a specific child or are too restrictive on the person whom they are imposed on. For example the Family Court can impose a restraining order to prevent an adult from residing with a specific child. In contrast child harm prevention orders will allow courts to restrict high-risk individuals from living working or associating with groups of children as well as with specific children. Another existing tool is extended supervision orders which can be used to monitor manage and recall serious offenders to prison. However extended supervision orders are applied only to people convicted of certain sexual offences. In contrast child harm prevention orders will be imposed by the High Court or the District Court where a person is convicted of specific offences against children or has been found on the balance of probabilities to have committed such an offence. The person must also be assessed as posing a high risk of causing serious harm to other children. The member who has resumed her seat quite rightly notes that that is a pretty tall order. This is a world-leading provision.I would like to run through some of the reasons why we would want to have that. It is partly because a dead child cannot say who has killed them. A smashed baby cannot say who has done anything. If we want to have an example of what happens when adults through all the fault of their own refuse to take responsibility let us just remember Chris and CruKāhui the little twins for whose murderous deaths nobody—nobody—has yet been convicted. Those children those babies could not say who killed them. Strangely enough no adult living in that home knew saw or heard anything. I can tell this House this for nothing: I would not let any of those adults look after my dog let alone a child ever because they are not fit to be anywhere near a child whether it is their child or anyone else’s. I do not care for a moment that they have not been convicted; I would not let them near them. I would be there taking them away.Each order though must be able to be reviewed and these will be regularly reviewed by a review panel and the District Court or the High Court. The orders will last up to 10 years and can be renewed at the end of that period. It is important and I think we should acknowledge that there may be something in someone’s life that for some reason means that they have abused a child—in other words they have taken those actions themselves and for which I hold them fully responsible. They may however turn their lives round. I believe in the power of redemption of people to change their lives to turn their lives round and to stop their behaviours. They will in fact be able to say: “Look I’m a better person now. I’ve learnt. I was under the influence of drugs or whatever but I have now owned my actions and I will not be doing that again.” They should be allowed to have that. I think that is in fact what gives these orders the ability to actually work. People can change their lives. But I am not silly enough or naive enough to believe that all people will change their lives.These child harm prevention orders are a very important way of protecting our vulnerable children. They demonstrate our commitment and they demonstrate the commitment of the Minister. So Minister Bennett I congratulate you. I believe that this bill is a bill that the select committee members will find very interesting and I hope they bring it back in as good condition as it is being sent. Thank you.