Smith NickHon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson): Madam Chair I'm delighted to take a call on clauses 1 to 4 on this bill and to really challenge members of the Government to give the Opposition a single reason as to why they oppose a broader title and a broader approach to this bill that equally recognises the role of fathers and men in the role of raising children because our frustration is that a perfectly reasonable proposition has been put forward. I was even surprised to have Sue Moroney the previous advocate and Labour member of Parliament saying Yes that's what we should do."So my proposition is firstly with respect to the title. If the Government insists on such a narrow approach to paid parental leave call it what it is: a Victorian view of families where mums raise the children and dads are nowhere to be see because that is effectively what the Government is proposing with its approach to paid parental leave. There just isn't the recognition by members opposite. Despite having babies in the Chamber and in light of all the maiden speeches about family we're still taking this incredibly narrow old-fashioned view of families not recognising that dads today are properly far more involved in the raising of young infants. I'm incredibly proud that the leader of the National Party actually noted that in support of his very talented wife he spent a full year as a father caring for a child being the primary caregiver. I would have thought that the members opposite who so much champion and want to be able to say how PC and modern they are when it comes to the very issue of recognising the role that dads play in children's lives have ignored that plea in the debate on this bill.We then come to the issues of commencement. The part that fascinates me in the commencement provisions of this bill is I've just listened to over a dozen speeches from members of the Government saying money doesn't come into it. "If you want to care about families—that's it. The problem with the old Government is that they kept talking and thinking about balancing the budget and doing boring things like that. Well we're new. Money doesn't count. You've just got to do what's right for mums and dads." If they truly believe that why are they staggering the commencement? I have yet to hear a logical reason from members opposite as to why they'd want to stagger that.Perhaps actually all that rhetoric was just another one of the multiple double standards that we are seeing from this Government in its first weeks. We shouldn't believe what they said prior to the election. We shouldn't believe what they said with such passion in their maiden speeches. Maybe they have come to the realisation with such a huge blowout in the difference between the financial numbers that they promised during the election campaign and their wild promises that there is a canyon between those and as a consequence actually the commencement dates do need to be different because otherwise it would just make their numbers. Well why don't they just come clean and say that? Why don't they simply say exactly what the previous Government said and that is "We want to extend paid parental leave. We think it's an important part of a modern New Zealand that better supports families but we need to stagger the introduction of that extended paid parental leave at a pace that is affordable so that we can also ensure that New Zealand continues to prosper and that we don't end up raking in a whole lot of debt."—because we do nothing for the children of this country if in providing them with the very best of paid parental leave we leave a legacy of billions of dollars of extra debt as this now Government is accepting it is doing.So I am frustrated—frustrated that with all the time that there is before these provisions come into effect we can't refer this bill to a select committee tidy up this issue around fathers and do what every New Zealander would want us to do and that is to provide for flexible modern paid parental leave where mums and dads can both access what's provided for in this bill."