Davis Kelvin; Rurawhe AdrianSOCIAL SECURITY (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CAREGIVERS) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon KELVIN DAVIS (Minister for Children): Thank you Madam Speaker—very very keen. I present a legislative statement on the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon KELVIN DAVIS: Thank you. I move That the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the journey that this bill has taken to get to its third reading here today. The journey began in 2019 when the then Minister the Hon Tracey Martin initiated a first principles review of financial assistance for caregivers. I think it's important at this time that we thank and acknowledge the 15000 caregivers across the country who provide day-to-day care for 24000 children in New Zealand whose parents are unable to provide care for them themselves. Now the review that Minister Martin initiated looked at the foster care allowance and that supports children in State care and the orphan's benefit and unsupported child's benefit which support tamariki outside of the State care system. Following extensive consultation the review found a range of fundamental issues with the caregiver payment system. One of the key findings is that there is a lack of equity in the payments and support that caregivers outside of the State care system get compared to caregivers of children within the State care system. So in late 2019 the Government agreed to a response to the findings of the review and this bill it forms part of the response. I'd like to once again acknowledge the Hon Tracey Martin for her work on the review and for introducing this bill to the House in her time as the Minister for Children. And as this bill amends the Social Security Act 2018 and the Social Security Regulations 2018 I also acknowledge my colleague the Minister for Social Development and Employment the Hon Carmel Sepuloni for her engagement as this bill made its way through the legislative process. I'd like to thank the Social Services and Community Committee for its thoughtful consideration of this bill. The committee recommended a number of changes that have improved the clarity of the bill to ensure that it can be implemented in line with the policy intent. I also want to thank members of the public who helped the committee to consider the bill through written and oral submissions. Many of those submitters were individual caregivers or organisations advocating on behalf of caregivers. I know that the committee will have appreciated hearing the lived experiences and expertise shared by those who took the time to make their submissions. We know that many caregivers are under financial pressure and that caregivers need more support to care for tamariki. We also know that financial assistance is inequitable for caregivers caring for children outside the State care system. We know that some caregivers outside of State care are not able to access financial assistance simply because the care arrangement is short term or they don't know how long it will be for. That's why the bill will extend eligibility for the orphan's benefit and the unsupported child's benefit to caregivers in these kinds of situations. Now this will ensure that caregivers who have stepped up to take on the care of a child whose parents are unable to care for them will be financially supported to do so despite the care arrangement being short term or for an unknown or uncertain period of time. To help address equity issues in the payments that different caregivers receive the bill establishes a holiday allowance and a birthday allowance for caregivers receiving the orphan's benefit and the unsupported child's benefit. These allowances will support tamariki to celebrate and enjoy those significant events in their lives. They'll also help caregivers to provide the tamariki in their care with the same experiences as other tamariki throughout Aotearoa. So I want to reiterate the Government's commitment to improving the system of financial assistance and support for caregivers. This bill is just one part of the Government's response to the 2019 review. We are also progressing long-term work to reform the system to ensure that our tamariki who are unable to be cared for by their parents get the support that they need and they deserve. I commend the Social Security (Financial Assistance for Caregivers) Amendment Bill to the House. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.