Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Chair. For those of you who have been watching this debate and actually expected a debate you're probably sorely disappointed because there is no debate. This of course is a piece of legislation that is supported by both sides of the House. I actually wish that more New Zealanders could see sometimes how select committees do function and function well and also that they could see this House when it functions and functions well. You can bet your bottom dollar there'll be no media reporting of this debate and that's unfortunate because what we're doing tonight in this second reading of the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill could seem quite minor.What's often staggering in this House is the things you have to deal with that are just a no-brainer and actually the fact that you find areas where there is such a significant discrepancy between two sets of people who are looking after children that aren't theirs and two different arrangements for financial support. So the problem when the legislation first comes to the House is you just think Well how can that even be? Why is this even a thing?" But in this House we have the opportunity to deal with issues that arise.I think it's fair to say that over many years now there has been a significant effort by Governments of both major parties to really make a difference to the lives of children in care. And as my colleague Chris Luxon pointed out unfortunately many of the children in this situation have already experienced things that many of us in this House wouldn't want to consider or dwell on. So for the children who are in care be they in foster care or cared for by other family members it is a responsibility for us in this House to ensure they are supported in ways that they need.One of the things that I am pleased about—and I do want to acknowledge the Minister Kelvin Davis for continuing a wider piece of work that is more broadly around financial assistance for caregivers. The work they do is so crucial in terms of providing assistance to a group of New Zealanders that have already faced so many challenges in their young sweet lives that to provide not just financial support but emotional support and spiritual support to help them rebuild is really critical and we do want to make sure that every child in New Zealand despite the circumstances they've been born into has the opportunities to flourish.So I want to put on record my thanks for the thousands and thousands of caregivers who provide that financial emotional and spiritual support and to say that this House is a House of Representatives—the fact that we have some of our own who have spoken in this debate who have been in the position to provide that support is special. One of the things that we heard with the submitters and many of us as electorate MPs would have heard this was some horrendous examples of families that have really struggled to support the children that are in their care. So I want to put on record our thanks for every person who accepts a child into their care whether expected or not and is able to provide support to them.I think lining it up with foster care support is a no-brainer. Of course holidays Christmas and birthdays are a special occasion for every child and for a child that is in a family supported by a parent that isn't their own I think we should make more effort to make that a special or memorable occasion. And so that's what this piece of legislation is doing. In the select committee we were able to again listen to the voices of submitters with real experience in this actually recognising that New Zealand is quite a different place than it was 20 30 40 years ago and so recognising holidays more broadly was an important thing for us to do.The interesting thing that came out in the earlier work that led to this legislation that the Hon Tracey Martin did was there was actually a mixed view from the caregivers who were surveyed about the need for additional financial assistance. So some needed it; some didn't. I think the difficulty though is for those caregivers who needed the financial assistance and couldn't access it with the 12-month rule in place—that creates significant stress on a family that's already dealing with additional challenges of bringing a child into their home to care for them. And so the removal of the 12-month rule makes sense. Some will need it more than others. I guess the area that I'd like to see explored in the further work that the Minister does is around making sure that there is greater more targeted support to families who have higher needs.Colleagues in the House have talked about children with disabilities for example. Some children with a range of challenges will have greater levels of support. The earlier that support can be provided the better and so I would like to request that the Minister take some of those things into consideration in the further work that is done so that the reduction of harm for those children can be the focus and a more individualised customised support for each one of those children and the families that have taken them into their care.So I am very pleased to support this bill and to say a very big thankyou to all of the caregivers around New Zealand and actually the organisations that support them. And I want to put on record my thanks to an organisation near me that operates just outside Cambridge Kids in Need Waikato who provide very practical support to some of these families who otherwise would be doing it incredibly tough. And to the 22000 children whose parents can't care for them for a range of reasons for a short period of time or for a long period of time this House and this legislation supports you and wants all the best for you and your future."