Parata Hekia: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Parata Hekia: Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:660;Page:9013] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Chair. Tena tatou e te Whare. I am delighted to stand and take a short call on this bill. Indeed it has been very difficult to sit here and listen to the errant nonsense being spouted from members on that side of the Chamber. In fact I would like to invite that member to join us on this planet and in this country in particular where at the end of 2008 over 1 million people joined us and said they were concerned about those issues. In fact they were concerned about a whole range of issues and they were tired of the rhetoric that had been dished up to them for the previous 9 years. They actually wanted people who were prepared to grapple with the hard issues tackle the difficult things and do all the things that we actually said we would do. 
Labour members sit on that side of the Chamber and ask vaguely what the 100 days were. I tell members on that side that those were the 100 days that followed the election of a National Government by an overwhelming majority of people in this country who want to see action taken. The Children Young Persons and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders) Amendment Bill is yet another example of the action we are taking. National is not an either/or Government. We completely recognise that education strong families powerful communities— 
Hon Annette King 
: Shh! 
HEKIA PARATA 
: No I beg the member’s pardon but I feel totally vehement about this so I am prepared to keep putting my views across. Perhaps if members opposite just listened they would hear that National members are not about and/or. We are absolutely committed to strong education. We are committed to the one in five students who were the legacy of the previous administration who are being failed in the education system and out of which I imagine that the 1000 most serious youth offenders which this bill is directed at are generated. 
Although we are taking action on national standards we also recognise that the population of New Zealand is concerned about this particular serious recidivist young group. We have put before this Committee a menu of options—not a one-size-fits-all plan—all of them well researched all of them well-thought-through and they will work. They are well supported because our purpose is not only so that New Zealanders feel safe in their homes but so that those young people get the chance and the opportunity to turn their lives round. They require much more targeted support than has generally been available. That is why we are expanding the Youth Court’s ability to provide those particular tools in order that those young people get the attention that they deserve and need. 
The suggestion that members on this side of the Chamber are engaged in exploitation means that members on that side of the Chamber do not understand what taking responsibility is about. They do not understand that members on this side of the House are prepared to confront the difficulties and put in place what is necessary to give those young people the opportunity to turn their lives round. 
So yes I stand in support both of this bill and of national standards. I also stand in support of investing in the social sector because this Government has a full range of options to offer to the community of New Zealand—a full tool kit. We do not compare ourselves with members on that side of the Chamber who were tool-less and toothless for the 9 years of the Labour administration. 
I commend this bill to the Committee. I thank the Minister for Social Development and Employment Paula Bennett for having the courage to take this kind of leadership. I thank the Committee for giving me the opportunity to speak so passionately albeit while apparently hurting the ears as well as the minds and the sensitivities of members opposite. Kia ora tatou.