Hutchison Paul: Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4) — Third Reading 
Hutchison Paul: Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4) — Third Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5392] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) 
: 
 Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the very important Child Support Amendment Bill (No 4). As my colleague Anne Tolley pointed out this bill is a missed opportunity on the part of the Labour Government. Indeed this is a very serious bill. If we look at its purpose we see it is to improve the level of compliance with financial support obligations so that more children receive the financial support to which they are entitled. Yet here we have a Labour Minister saying that the debt mountain has got out of control. That just has to be a minimising of the scandalous fact that in the last 6 years under the Labour Government that amount has trebled. It is up by 300 percent; it has now reached $1.1 billion. In fact in 2003—only 3 years ago—the debt owed by liable New Zealand parents resident in Australia was $73 million; now it is $280 million. It has quadrupled under the Labour Government which just has not been watching what is happening with regard to a very very important issue for children. 
The fundamental reason for the Child Support Act 1991 is to ensure parental responsibility for the support of those parents’ children. We in National believe that must be clear. There must be clear signals to responsible parents and there must be equally clear signals to irresponsible parents. As many of my colleagues have pointed out this bill waives $650 million. That is what the Labour Government is prepared to do. The signal that sends to parents is that the Labour Government does not care about the debt. In fact it basically encourages liable parents to be irresponsible and that is of great concern. 
Labour Government members over there on the other side of the Chamber are looking pretty tired and tawdry and that is no wonder because they have let this mountainous debt accumulate over the last 6 years. They set out to be the Government that was supposed to be accountable but here we find that back in 2000 the debt was $380 million and now it is $1.1 billion. There are $700 million of arrears. Yet the Minister of Revenue says that if we did get that money back it would not go to the children. Of course the New Zealand taxpayer should have that money back. This Government is just going to write it off. That is what the Labour Government is doing—writing off $651 million in arrears that hard-working taxpayers have been required to give. We have seen on the Government’s watch a considerable laxity in this very important area. 
Minister Cunliffe said child support is a very hard problem and the Government is honestly trying to do something about it but the solution is not perfect. Well that has to be the understatement of 2006. More important is what some of the technicians say about the bill. We heard from the New Zealand Law Society from Judge Boshier and various other judges and from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand. All of them were deeply critical of the technical aspects of the bill and really felt that the Labour Government had not looked at the details in a practical way. That is what has personified or characterised this Government over the past 6 years. It is fine in terms of talk and high in rhetoric but it is unable to really look at the practical aspects of legislation. 
I have heard about that issue from liable parents right throughout New Zealand who have said that when the collection agencies have come to them they have been given such confusing information that it has driven them to despair. One particular individual said to me that on one day he was sent a bill for $200000. He rang up on the next day and was told that it was $3000. He rang up and said that was great but the call operator said that the case manager had gone on holiday and he would have to go to the next call centre which was in Whangarei. He called that call centre and was told it did not know about his case and he would have to try up in Northland or somewhere like that. The system is a shambles under this Labour Government and that is absolutely a characteristic of it. 
I will look at the detail of the bill. This is what Judge Boshier had to say about one of the most important parts of the bill new Part 6B. He said the purpose of that provision was to extend existing provisions for ensuring that “parents’ child support liability accurately reflects their ability to provide financial assistance for children”. I do not consider those provisions will be effective. I recall at the time the Trapski review was carried out in 1994 issues were raised about the ability of the court to be able to set aside strategies or devices such as family trusts and companies which enabled a liable parent to reduce their child support obligations. Following that Judge Boshier received a letter from Judge Walsh in which he said: “After reflecting on the whole scheme of Part 6B I am left with the impression it will be effectively a toothless provision.” 
So here in this bill the opportunity has been lost by this Labour Government which did not bother to get into the very important details of child support. After 6 years it has let this debt mountain increase threefold—300 percent—and fourfold in Australia. Yet when it comes to the machinery of the legislation Judge Boshier and Judge Walsh say that the provision is effectively toothless. That view has come from one of the highest judges in the land. 
What does the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand say? It says regarding determinations initiated by the Inland Revenue Department: “In any event we have serious misgivings with the proposal as currently drafted in the Bill; both with the law and the practical and administrative implications. It is too wide provides no objective test does not clearly specify the purpose and provides inadequate controls and safeguards.” That is from the Institute of Chartered Accountants and that is the reason why the Labour Government has let this debt mountain get away on it. It wants to waive $600 million and not think about sorting out the machinery of governance and the organisation of debt collection in this country. It just wants to waive the money and not go and do the hard practical work. 
So when we hear Minister Cunliffe say that child support is a very hard problem and that Labour is honestly trying to do something about it but the solution is not perfect that has to be the understatement of 2006. This Labour Government needs to clean up its own administration. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: And its act. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: Yes—and its act. There is a certain irony about this bill coming at a time when Labour is refusing to pay $500000 that it spent on a pledge card. It is refusing to pay its bills and it is also waiving $600 million of taxpayers’ money. 
This bill unfortunately is a huge missed opportunity for the children of New Zealand. We in National are very sad not to be able to support it. The reason we are not supporting it is that the lazy Labour Government does not pay attention to detail when it comes to children.