Henare PeeniHon PEENI HENARE (Associate Minister for Social Development): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare otirā tēnā tātou katoa kei roto i ngā āwhā o te wā.[I greet you honourable Assistant Speaker indeed I greet all who are here while we are in the midst of a cyclone.]Sir thank you very much for this opportunity and in recognising you I also recognise our families out there who right now are hunkered down with the onset of Cyclone Gita onto our shores. We wish them all the best at this point in time.Can I thank the Minister for Social Development for the introduction of the Families Commission Act Repeal Bill and I take the point from the member opposite Louise Upston that this is for the most part while reading the bill rather technical—technical with respect to winding up the social evaluation policy evaluation and research unit (SuPERU) as referred to by the Minister properly making sure that employment contracts are met asset liability is met but also that it's done in an expedient manner. The Minister made mention of this particular bill being a decision made by the previous Government and while we are here left holding the baby it is important that we continue the good work for the benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand and I will touch on that as my speech progresses because the member opposite makes a few points around the Social Investment Agency that I'd like to touch on.But first can I in introducing this bill and supporting it thank all of the people who have been involved in both the Families Commission and of course SuPERU since its inception. A lot of good work has come out of SuPERU. We know that they've been a leader in terms of research and evaluation for social impact. One of those particular matters that they've been at the forefront of which I'm really quite proud of I guess and interested in as Minister for Whānau Ora is about the engagement with Māori communities not just in research not just in evaluation but also in the use of the data and that's an important point. Most people in the House will know that Māori in particular seem to be at the wrong end of every bit of social statistics read in this country. Therefore a lot of data is collected about them a lot of research and evaluation is done and I know that SuPERU in the past have done a good job at actually engaging with communities one so that they better reflect the communities that they serve but two that the data and the research and evaluation they collect and of course publish best serves and informs Government on policy direction in relation to those communities who are affected.Can I point briefly to one of those just in recognition of the work that SuPERU have done—one of them is the Youth Mental Health Project evaluation. I think it's an important part as Minister for Youth. I want to acknowledge the work that they've done there. It acknowledges that while some sectors actually did benefit from some of the decisions from the former Government it was made clear once the evaluation was done properly that there are still many minority communities out there and minority groups who are left out of a lot of the mainstream services that are provided for young people and their mental health services. One of those of course is the LGBTIQ sector. One of those of course is also the Māori - Pacific Island sector. Of course one that's dear to my heart as the member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is those young people in South Auckland. There are many South Auckland MPs in the House tonight who will acknowledge that the work done by SuPERU certainly highlighted that effective research and evaluation is important.Another one of those is of course the Families and Whānau Status Report. This plays of course a pivotal role in the rhetoric around research and evaluation. What that particular report did was it put whānau at the centre of all policy and decision making made by Government. That's important and I will pick up on some of these points as we get to discuss the Social Investment Agency and then certainly the future prospects for our people under the leadership of this Government.I can't highlight enough the cultural perspectives taken on board by the Families Commission and SuPERU to make sure that the cultural dynamics of our communities are heard in research and evaluation. But it's important to remember and I quote my grandfather at this point in time that we've come too far not to go further; we've done too much not to do more. In acknowledging the good work of SuPERU we want to focus on the future. One of those is actually about making sure that this bill goes through the House expeditiously to make sure that we wind up the role of SuPERU but focus more importantly on the future. What does that future hold for us? Well I'm excited about it. The Minister has already explained how some of the functions will transfer over to the Ministry of Justice under the stewardship of the Minister of Justice. Of course the Ministry of Social Development will hold on to significant parts of the work that've been done and will continue them; in fact better them—and of course there is the Social Investment Agency. And this brings me to a few points I'd like to make in reference to the contribution of the member before me.The Social Investment Agency under the last regime was one about making sure that fiscal risk did not fall upon this country. It was focused on money and data. What we hope to lead in social investment is actually focusing on people. It's putting people at the forefront of our decision making making sure that the data the research the evaluation and the analytics done with social data and in the social sector actually inform us to move forward; not looking at individuals as a future fiscal risk to this country.That particular model led by the last regime—I'm dumbfounded. Why? Because across the rest of the world they actually focus on people. Our Government under the last regime actually led us by focusing on the fiscal risks. They weren't aspirational for our people. They didn't think that our people had the capability the capacity or the aspiration to actually make this place a better country. That's a concern. So in addressing the last member's contribution—we have a different role and a different perspective on social investment. We're not a ministry. It's an agency to support everything else that this Government has in place and in plan and in train for our country.One of those things is making sure we get it right. Under the last regime they noticed that actually they'd been missing the social sector conversation and they left their run too late. What happens there is that the establishment of the Social Investment Agency was done hastily. We are on this side of course prepared to make sure we do the groundwork to make sure that we don't rush into it and we learn from the mistakes of the past so that our outcomes and our policy direction are actually enduring sustainable and achievable for our country—they reach the aspirations that our people have for each other our people have for each other; not just what the Government tells them to do but what our people in our communities have for each other. I'm excited about that. I'm excited about that. Under the leadership of Minister for Social Development the Hon Carmel Sepuloni she and her ministry and all of her advisers are really focused on making sure that our fingerprint is on the Social Investment Agency model; not the one of the former regime which once again looked at the fiscal risks and not at the potential of our people. So I want to leave that part there.I'm also excited to say to the House tonight that while some might question why we might be doing this expeditiously it's important that we remember that we are a Government that's committed—committed to working towards a social sector that achieves long-term good for our people. How do we do that? We do that with effective data and research—effective data and research. We do that by using that effective data and research to inform our policy direction. From there only then can we have sustainable outcomes for our people. I'm excited and I support this bill in its progression and of course moving it expeditiously through this House to ensure that we forget the regime in its direction of the past and we focus on a brighter future for our people in the social sector and achieve their aspirations within their communities and in their whānau. Only then can New Zealand truly realise its potential. Therefore on that note I commend this bill to the House.