Sepuloni Carmel: Child and Family Protection Bill — Second Reading 
Sepuloni Carmel: Child and Family Protection Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:13875] 
CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour) 
: 
 I have listened to the speeches on the Child and Family Protection Bill and I think we all agree that this is an important issue. It is an issue that we take seriously across all sides of the House. There are very few things that we can agree on but we can agree that there is a great need to still do a lot to address the domestic violence that is occurring in our country. Labour has a strong track record on domestic violence prevention. However we acknowledge that despite what we have done in this area domestic violence remains a problem for many New Zealanders and more needs to be done. We will support this bill but we do so with some reservations because we do not believe that it goes far enough. 
Before I get into the detail of the bill I acknowledge all the organisations out there that work collaboratively and tirelessly to resolve issues around domestic violence and that work with and alongside the victims of domestic or family violence. A number of them could be mentioned but I make special mention of the collaborative efforts being undertaken by the Waitakere Taskforce on Family Violence. This task force includes Waitakere Anti Violence Essential Services Waitakere Abuse and Trauma Counselling Services Man Alive Viviana and Violence Free Waitakere. The Waitakere police are part of this task force as is the Waitakere City Council Mayor Bob Harvey. In fact I think it was with his leadership that this task force began which the Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse is also part of. It really is impressive because it is a collaborative group working together to ensure that the way in which this issue is addressed and is resolved in the long term is through collaborative efforts. Everyone knows what everyone is doing and everyone is working together to address this. I took Annette King to meet with the task force last week and she was equally impressed. She saw the impressive collaborative efforts going on amongst the group and the commitment on this issue that it demonstrated to the families and children of Waitakere and to the community overall so I really do acknowledge those people before I get into the detail of my speech. 
I will talk about some of the background to domestic violence. It is incredibly shocking. I will give the House some of the statistics on domestic violence in New Zealand. In 2008 the police responded to 82692 incidents involving some form of domestic violence. Four to 10 percent of New Zealand children experience physical abuse. Twenty-four percent of girls and 11 percent of boys experience sexual abuse. In 2007 6400 children were involved in applications for protection orders. Most of these children had witnessed violence and some had been subjected to violence directly. New Zealand’s domestic violence rates do not compare well with those of other OECD countries and we have the worst rate in the world of child death by maltreatment. A recent report commissioned by Every Child Counts found that child abuse and neglect in New Zealand costs about $2 billion per year. Those are just some of the statistics in relation to this issue. 
Labour of course supports any measures to prevent and mitigate the harm of domestic violence. However in our minds this bill is not ambitious enough and will fail to achieve its aim. We suggest that the Government progress Labour’s Domestic Violence Reform Bill which is languishing at the bottom of the Order Paper. The National-led Government prides itself on its record in this area claiming that this is another bill to protect victims of domestic violence. When questioned about why Labour’s Domestic Violence Reform Bill has not been progressed yet Simon Power claimed that the Ministry of Justice has insufficient resources. In 2008 the Labour Government introduced the Domestic Violence Reform Bill and this legislation as I said is still on the Order Paper. In the build-up to that bill whilst it was being pulled together extensive consultation and research took place. As far as we are concerned on this side of the House because it is an issue that we all take seriously National really does need to put aside politics and ensure that the bill is pushed through. National should have put aside politics to ensure that the bill was speedily progressed through Parliament and it is unfortunate that that did not happen. 
The reality is that this bill was languishing at the bottom of the Order Paper when the National Government thought measures like the 90-day trial fire-at-will bill was something that urgently needed to be put into place in the Government’s first 100 days. That is the reality when really something like Labour’s domestic violence bill should have been given priority. The Government has progressed other domestic violence legislation but as I said before it does not go far enough. National members claim not to have the resources to progress the other provisions yet they have the resources to give tax cuts to the wealthiest chunk of New Zealanders out there. It makes us question what the Government’s priorities are. 
The Child and Family Protection Bill omits five important changes included in Labour’s domestic violence legislation. Labour’s bill changes the definition of “child” in the Domestic Violence Act 1995 to that of someone under the age of 18. In accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child currently a child is anyone under 17. This bill does not provide the court with the power to direct attendance to an addiction treatment programme whereas Labour’s Domestic Violence Reform Bill does give the Family Court this power. Labour’s bill introduces a provision requiring any judge who declines without notice an application for a protection order to provide written reasons for declining the application enabling the applicant to decide whether to proceed on notice. National’s bill does not include a similar provision. Labour’s proposals make provision for applicants to be able to attend information sessions which would provide advice on making effective use of protection orders and advice on any social assistance that may be available. Labour’s bill contains better protections and provisions to applicants for discharge of protection orders and it allows the court to order reports if necessary. 
Simon Power says he intends to progress the remaining provisions of the Domestic Violence Reform Bill but Labour would really like to know when that will happen and why there is a hold-up. If in theory Simon Power supports the provisions that are in Labour’s bill then there should be no reason to delay it particularly given the statistics I opened with when I started this speech. Judith Collins issued a media release on 1 October 2009 saying that National’s two new bills would tackle the evil of family violence but neither she nor Simon Power have explained how the omission of those five changes will improve things. 
Labour members on the Justice and Electoral Committee believe that young people who are over 17 and who were protected by an order when they were children should continue to be protected as long as they want to be. But National members believe that protection orders should protect children only while they live with an applicant. 
Labour will be supporting the bill but I have stated very clearly what our reservations are regarding it. We are concerned that our domestic violence bill is still languishing at the bottom of the Order Paper and we plead with the Government to take it seriously. We know that Government members are concerned about the levels of domestic violence and the well-being of families and children just as we are. We know that they are concerned so we hope therefore that they will find a way of pushing through our Domestic Violence Reform Bill in a speedy manner.