Hudson Brett; Allan KiritapuBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Madam Chair. It is a pleasure to take a call on this. I just want to take this opportunity as we are looking at Part 1 at what is going to happen what is proposed. It is important that we also think within that about what it means is not proposed.I've heard members from the other side and the Minister for Women comment that this is about a policy of leave. I actually think they're confusing mechanisms with policy. The policy might be expressed as giving a child a better start in their life. It might be expressed as improving bonding between the infant and the primary caregiver. The fact of doing it by extending a number of weeks of leave is a mechanism that gives effect to the policy. It's not actually the policy itself.We all support that and support that intent and are voting for that but by taking the approach that that mechanism was the policy the Government has chosen to introduce and progress this in a way that means that other parts very valid parts to what is truly the policy have been overlooked. Members of this Parliament but also the public have been denied the opportunity to make submissions in those areas.By its agreement with Ms Dowie's Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) the Government is admitting that there is at least one flaw in the bill as they have introduced it under urgency. It is a flaw that had it been progressed through a select committee would have been able to have been investigated and instead of talking in Part 1 simply about the increase of a number of weeks of paid parental leave we could be talking at the same time about other improvements to that fundamental policy of the early weeks and months of a child's life and their bonding with their caregiver particular the primary caregiver.So Ms Dowie spotted that piece and I'd just like to acknowledge if I may that that idea was introduced by a National Government. But I'd just like to acknowledge the former National list MP based in Ōhāriu Katrina Shanks. It was a policy idea that she brought to the National caucus. It is wonderful to see not only that it was passed by a National Government but that through another National member it looks like a very good possibility that that will be extended along with the extension to the paid parental leave.I think also that Amy Adams' SOP shows another flaw in the way that that policy can be delivered by denying parents the choice to take leave together and to parent together not only the newborn but obviously the entire family circumstances. There's actually more because there are other elements that could and should have been traversed in a select committee.Now in its last term in Government the National Government amongst other things as extending parental leave also made changes to the parental tax credit. The parental tax credit is used by those families in circumstances where they feel that work is a part of what they need to do in that early part after the birth. So the Government provides support through that parental tax credit for families in that situation. The National Government increased the value of it by $70 a week to $220 but also—and I think this is where it's absolutely relevant to Part 1—the National Government extended the duration of that tax credit. When it extended paid parental leave to 18 weeks it extended the duration from 8 weeks' to 10 weeks' eligibility for the parental tax credit. So here we have a bill in the House introduced under urgency all about a fundamental policy about a child's early life and bonding and a good start to life and we've overlooked certain elements because we skipped an important part of our parliamentary process.We should be debating we should be discussing—because different families have different circumstances—the idea that the parental tax credit should also be extended in its duration by an amount. That amount may not be the same as the amount of paid parental leave extension in either part but there's absolutely an argument to suggest it for families in those circumstances where the use of the parental tax credit is preferable or better for them than paid parental leave and this bill under urgency without a select committee has denied members of Parliament and the public the opportunity to explore these and actually put through Parliament and enact a better piece of legislation that will more fully deliver the actual policy intent.KIRITAPU ALLAN (Assistant Whip—Labour): I move That the question be now put.