4. Question No. 4—FinanceTIM COSTLEY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. TIM COSTLEY (National—Ōtaki) to the Minister of Finance: What announcements has she made recently about supporting low- and middle-income families?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Yesterday we announced that from 1 July low to middle income parents with early childhood education costs will be able to claim back up to 25 percent of their early childhood education (ECE) fees to a maximum of $75 a week. Families who qualify for the maximum reimbursement will receive $975 in their bank accounts from October and another $975 every three months thereafter. This new FamilyBoost initiative will provide real relief for families struggling with the cost of living.Tim Costley: How many families and children will benefit from FamilyBoost?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Many families are struggling with high housing childcare and daily living costs. An estimated 21000 low to middle income families will qualify for the maximum reimbursement of $975 every three months and in total FamilyBoost will help support more than 140000 children and their families. I am very proud that this Government is able to provide extra assistance to support so many hard-working New Zealand families.Tim Costley: How can Kiwi families access this support?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: To ensure the repayment goes swiftly and accurately to eligible parents and their caregivers early childhood invoices are submitted directly through Inland Revenue's online system myIR which I am advised can be used from a phone. Parents and caregivers will be able to submit ECE invoices every three months with FamilyBoost refunded as a lump sum. Inland Revenue is currently talking to the early childhood sector about the best way to make this as simple as possible. Overnight I am advised that early childhood services are already considering measures to make this as easy as possible for the parents they serve including talking to their IT providers about issuing three-monthly invoices and assisting parents to upload these to the IRD.Tim Costley: What are the other benefits of FamilyBoost?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well childcare is one of the biggest costs for families and members of this House who have had young children will know that full well. According to the OECD childcare costs in New Zealand are among the highest in the world—at 37 percent of household income. Being able to afford early childhood education fees can be a barrier to entering the workforce particularly for a second earner in a household. FamilyBoost will make it easier and more worthwhile for families with young children to work by directly assisting them to pay those ECE fees.Hon Jan Tinetti: Does she agree the announcement made yesterday is hundreds of millions of dollars' less support to families than the previous Government's early childhood education Budget '23 support package which she scrapped?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I'd reject that as a false analogy because actually it's hypothetical. The reason for that is there were serious questions raised by early childhood providers and others about where the commitments made by the previous Government were even deliverable at all. It was a phantom policy and I tell you a really big difference: this money—this cold hard cash—goes direct into the bank accounts of parents. There is no middleman or -woman; this is real cost of living relief for New Zealand families.Hon David Seymour: Will the Government actually allow for the FamilyBoost policy in the costings it does in its Budget and is that a general policy of the Government: to actually put aside money to fund the things it promises the public or will this Government simply make it up and hope to lose the election so someone else can inherit the problem?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Well the Minister makes a very good point—Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order. How on earth was that fitting with the requirements in Speakers' rulings and Standing Orders given that it was clearly designed to make a political point?SPEAKER: Well the point is that every question is designed to make a political point. The second part of it is that there was no mention of other Governments' or previous Governments' policies: it was as much I suppose on the edge of Standing Orders as the question in the first place. So on that basis it's not out.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order.SPEAKER: A different point of order?Hon Kieran McAnulty: Yes it is. On that basis speaking generally if a question involves a hypothetical scenario then that too should be ruled out.SPEAKER: That is the case in Standing Orders; it can be. But that would leave us with a very very bland question time and given that today there are actually four questions that I think are the ultimate blandness that's not looking good for the House and the public information that's supposed to come from it. So that won't always be the case but I appreciate that you're pointing out what is currently in Standing Orders.Hon Chris Bishop: I just wonder if for the House's elucidation you could outline what the four sort of bland questions you're referring to are.SPEAKER: Oh no no. I think members of Parliament are well and truly capable of working out what is bland and what's not. Can we then progress with the balance of that answer which I'm sure will be brief.Hon NICOLA WILLIS: The Minister makes a very good point and yes our Government has learnt the lessons of history. Where previous Governments announced poorly costed funded and poorly consulted early childhood education policies we—SPEAKER: Yeah I think—Hon NICOLA WILLIS: —have chosen—SPEAKER: No—stop there. Stop there. Stop there otherwise I'll get a barrage of points of order over here and they would be right.Hon David Seymour: Point of order Mr Speaker. I'm a member of this House and I'd like my question addressed. Is the Government intending to put aside the money to actually allow this policy to be funded?SPEAKER: Then you should have asked that simple question rather than the bits that elicited the balance of the argument.Hon David Seymour: It's precisely the question I asked and it hasn't been addressed.SPEAKER: Well I'll tell you what. Because I'm a reasonable person if you can ask the question again without the sideswipe that would be great.Hon David Seymour: Seeking a clarification: that's an extra supplementary question for ACT?SPEAKER: No; it simply replaces the one that you've got not adding to your list. You're not going to eat into your total by asking again. Get on with it please—the House is impatient.Hon David Seymour: Well I'd like the Minister of Finance to tell the House: has the Government set aside in its budgeting adequate funds to show that the statements of the Government coming out at Budget time will actually indicate enough money is available to fund this FamilyBoost policy?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Yes. This policy has been fully funded with $723 million provided over the forecast period and the Budget will reflect that. I think it's really important that members of this House understand this fact: we have costed this policy based on 100 percent uptake because we want every single family in New Zealand who qualifies for this policy to know that the funding is there for them. So get out there members opposite; tell the people in your electorate—SPEAKER: Thank you. No no; we don't need that. We don't need that. It's very helpful I'm sure but—Tim Costley: Has the Minister seen any reaction to the FamilyBoost announcement?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I've seen a lot of very positive reactions to yesterday's announcement many from mums and dads who really need this cash. I've also seen reaction from those in the early childhood education sector. For example the New Shoots Children's Centre's director said Parents are definitely doing it tough like everybody in New Zealand so I think any support for parents is going to be brilliant". And the Early Childhood Education Council chief executive said "It will be just such a welcome relief for parents who have been facing such high child care costs." They are right and it is a shame that some people opposite have sour grapes about relief for working parents."