Collins Judith: Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Collins Judith: Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:624;Page:19580] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 This Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Bill is an absolute example of the deep factions that are breaking out in the Labour Government. Looking at the members opposite I see there are 10 mods—and I think about the “She’s a Mod” type of thing. We have to ask whether Mr Duynhoven is a mod. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: I was always a mod. 
JUDITH COLLINS 
: We would say yes he is a mod. 
Brent Catchpole 
: Or is he a rocker? 
JUDITH COLLINS 
: “Or is he a rocker?” asks Mr Catchpole. There are the 10 people who would support Mr Tamihere in his leadership bid. Then there are the 15 who say they are staunch but he does not really know just how staunch they are. Then there are the others whom I guess would be the tossers Mr Tamihere talks about. 
This bill is one of those examples that show the classic rifts within the Labour Government. On the one hand the bill purports to do something about the absolute trauma for the 33000 children who do not have a named father on their birth certificates yet whose mothers are claiming the domestic purposes benefit—33000 children to 19000 mothers. This bill states it will do something about it but when we look at the detail of it we see that—just as with that other half of the Labour caucus whom Mr Tamihere terms “tossers”—what the Government wants is for nothing actually to change because the party of those members opposite depends on people being at the bottom of the social economic heap and those members know that. It is just one of those little things. 
I can imagine United Future members thinking this is a great bill because it actually acknowledges for the first time under this Government that maybe fathers are important. Yet—just as Mr Tamihere says—because of some clauses in the bill a few little words suddenly it does not mean much. The $6 per week that is to be the little bit being taken from beneficiaries’ total income—whether they have three four five six or 10 children by three four five six or 10 different fathers—is being replaced by a big lump of extra money provided under another bill. That is how this Government operates: it gives taxpayers’ money with one hand takes it away with the other and at the same time tries to keep all its various factions in hand. 
I can see the honourable member Georgina Beyer looking as though all her Christmases will stop now; suddenly she knows that she will not be back in Parliament after the next election. Poor young Darren Hughes has been sitting there all day looking like he has just found out that Santa Claus does not really exist and the poor little darling looks as though he has been crying all day. This is because we now have written confirmation of something we always knew which is that the factions in the Labour Government are what has rendered it utterly useless to bring about any change in welfare. Here comes Dr Cullen and we all know about his skill with those little words and how he is able to talk coalition partners like United Future and the Greens into supporting all sorts of things that they do not really want to support. They do not realise it until it is too late; by that time they have already signed up for them. 
One of the areas that has been talked about today is the exemption for mothers who claim to fear violence from the father. Most people would accept that a mother who is being beaten up might be under a fear of violence. But when we look into this bill—it is just like all the other rubbish that Mr Maharey keeps giving us—we find that all a mother has to say is that she fears violence; there do not have to be any threats of violence and there do not have to be any complaints made to the police. There does not have to be one complaint to the police—nothing. 
Russell Fairbrother 
: What do you want black eyes? 
JUDITH COLLINS 
: No black eyes I say to Mr Fairbrother need to be shown and no broken bones—nothing! All she has to say is that she fears violence from the unnamed father. I am sure a lot of extra people will suddenly be saying they fear violence. When the refuge people came along to tell us all about this matter I asked them how many of these people who claim they fear violence ever take the matter to the police and the answer was none.