Turner Judy: Families Commission Bill — First Reading 
Turner Judy: Families Commission Bill — First Reading 
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JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
: 
 I stand to speak on behalf of United Future in the first reading of the Families Commission Bill. It is certainly not difficult to see why certain members from other parties have trouble getting their heads around this proposal. The very nature of the political animal is that it is driven by the 3-year cycle. The quick fix instant gratification and tick both boxes please—that is about as far as many politicians can see. While nobody disagrees that addressing the immediate needs of New Zealanders is part of what the Government should do responsible government should include planning for the future. That is why this legislation is not a knee-jerk reaction to the many cases of dysfunctional families and the increasing statistics of child abuse that we hear about via the media. This legislation will create a vision and will contribute to an environment in which families will flourish and be able to participate fully in society—an environment in which all children will be enabled to reach their greatest potential. 
Clearly the Families Commission will over time advocate for a raft of issues that relate to needy families in our community. However it will not advocate solely for families with identifiable needs but for taking a strength-based approach to determining through consultation and using evidence-based data what it is that Governments do that creates an environment in which families thrive and where Governments create obstacles that weaken families’ resolve to succeed. Traditionally families need to be at risk or to be failing miserably before they enjoy the attention of the Government. Part of the change that needs to be advocated for is a change towards investing in families that are not at obvious risk. For that reason the commission will not focus on families as a needy cause but rather it will focus on families as a context in which people live their lives. 
For instance if a mum is receiving mental health support it can be rightly assumed that there are some issues at home that will need addressing—in other words her mental health does not exist in isolation from the context of her family. As a country we have over previous years been very good at treating individuals in need separately from their family context and we then often wonder why our efforts are not sustainable. 
Many of us know the questions that need to be asked but up until now we have not had an independent body to ask those questions and to come up with workable and sustainable solutions. This commission will be charged with advising on a broad range of issues and on the way those issues impact on families. For instance what is the impact on family life when we talk about work-life balance? What is the impact on families as we set taxation rates for families with dependants? What about the Family Court—how do families feel about it and about the outcomes from that court? What about the gaps in parent education in our communities? What about the level of tertiary qualifications for those who are working in the field of family service provision? How will the families of the future be able to balance their student loan repayments retirement savings and homeownership demands? Those are all the kinds of issues that may be looked into researched and have recommendations made on to the Government. 
Because the Government will consider the commission as a key stakeholder on family policy some of those issues will be addressed by the Government of the day and the commission will make comment on them. However the commission will also raise other issues independently. It will therefore be essential that the commission establish a strong working relationship with the Government family service providers academics and the voluntary sector in order to ensure that there is robust policy analysis well-researched data and effective and workable policies for all New Zealand families. 
It is important at this time to thank all the social service education health and family support organisations that have so willingly participated in the consultation process that has gone on at the design stage of this legislation. We want to thank the Federation of New Zealand Parents Centres Plunket the Child Poverty Action Group the family centre at Victoria University Relationship Services the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services Parent to Parent New Zealand Inc. Triple P New Zealand Parenting with Confidence the Office of the Commissioner for Children the Auckland University of Technology Bethlehem Institute of Education the Pacific Foundation the National Council of Women and many others who have come and made extremely good submissions to us and who have made some fabulous recommendations that are included in this legislation. 
United Future has been a strong supporter of New Zealand’s voluntary and charitable sector which we believe is passionate about family issues and is best placed to deliver assistance to families in need. Therefore it was never United Future’s intention that the Families Commission would be designed to duplicate its work. Those providers respond to the immediate and often crisis-ridden needs of individuals by providing relief and if possible intervention in order to prevent further decline. They work tirelessly in advocating for children and families and our country is much richer for their existence. 
It is important for the Families Commission to be able to identify with and to speak for the widest range of parent-child environments. Anything less than that would have relegated the commission to advocating for a special-interest group. Without that breadth of definition the commission’s scope would have disqualified it from being a key adviser to the Government on a wide range of interests. Of even greater concern would have been that the commission could be designed in such a way as to be captured by a narrowly focused interest group. We have avoided ideological definitions of the family because the commission is not set up to serve families as they should be but rather families as they are. I would like to take this opportunity to extend United Future’s thanks to the Hon Steve Maharey and his staff and to the officials from the Ministry of Social Development for what has been an open and extremely positive working relationship on that matter. 
To reiterate the commission is designed to look at the big picture and in particular to determine the factors that strengthen family connectedness and improve family outcomes. The commission is concerned with building social and human capital. For example the link between educational outcomes and family cohesiveness is well documented in overseas studies. The commission will help to build our country’s stock of social capital for it is within the family that we learn the necessary skills and values that we need in order to form social capital out in the wider community. One might consider the commission as a social capital incubator. It is within the family that we learn and are taught the value of trust and of the usefulness of sharing norms and expectations. The commission through its research and its role of advocacy will be able to amplify and propagate that message to all New Zealanders. More important it will once again remind us of one more reason that families are so important. By fostering and teaching social capital it will make a reality of United Future’s favourite saying: “If it is good for the family it is good for the country.”