Walker Hamish; Tolley AnneKIWISAVER (FOSTER PARENTS OPTING IN FOR CHILDREN IN THEIR CARE) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHAMISH WALKER (National—Clutha-Southland): I move That the KiwiSaver (Foster Parents Opting in for Children in their Care) Amendment Bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to make it possible for any foster parent or kin carer who has proof of responsibility to approach a KiwiSaver provider to open an account for a foster child in their care. Currently the only way for a foster parent or kin carer to open a KiwiSaver account is by application to their approved or allocated social worker and experience has shown that this is a very low priority for social workers as they are very busy people and have more urgent tasks to address. The CEO of the Ministry of Social Development currently has the power to open a KiwiSaver account for a child who has contested or no legal guardians. However this current set-up relies on complex processes to take place within a Government framework where the CEO's priorities are in urgent demand in other areas. Under current KiwiSaver legislation foster parents are prevented from opening a KiwiSaver account for their foster children as they are not technically the legal guardian. Instead the CEO of Oranga Tamariki is the only person that can apply to open a KiwiSaver account for a foster child. The current process has far too much red tape and prevents foster parents from acting in the best interests of foster children. To give every single foster child in New Zealand that chance of success we need to change this. There are more than 6000 foster children in State care in New Zealand. This bill will reduce demands on social workers which will free them up to focus on more important pressing issues. This bill simply gives every foster child in New Zealand the same rights as any other child to open a KiwiSaver account. A KiwiSaver account unlike your bank account is the only financial instrument that no one except the owner of the account can access. This bill will add to the work of the previous National Government to improve the lives of New Zealand's most vulnerable children. If anyone opposed to this bill says there is no need for it because there has never been an application the reason why we're here tonight proves this point. There have been applications through social workers but none have ever made it through to the CEO because they are busy people and the social workers can't get it through. I introduced this bill to give 6000 foster children the same choice as any other child to open a KiwiSaver account. I was a little bit disappointed with certain aspects of the report back from officials. This bill in its amended form as recommended by the officials only helps about 10 percent around six or seven hundred who have already got a guardian. What about the 5900 foster children who don't have a guardian and will never be able to open up a KiwiSaver account if this bill is passed in its form recommended by the select committee majority report? Oranga Tamariki consistently say it creates an unhealthy precedent to have someone other than the legal guardian to have the right to open a KiwiSaver account. Name for me one bad outcome from someone having a KiwiSaver account. If a KiwiSaver account is not a good thing why do we as a country sign up everyone when they start working and force them to opt out if they don't want a KiwiSaver account? Oranga Tamariki say only legal guardians should be able to open a KiwiSaver account for their foster children. Oranga Tamariki have never opened a KiwiSaver account for a foster child despite several requests made by social workers. As part of this journey Oranga Tamariki—it's great that they say they intend to review their current processes. This is a good thing. However this is apparently part of their general review and when I asked them in the Social Services and Community Committee for a time frame they said over the next year or two. The only way to give foster children the same rights as other children to open a KiwiSaver account is to force Oranga Tamariki to give them that right by legislation. I want to touch on a couple of submissions made throughout the process. Several submitters expressed concern that this provision is too broad. There were concerns that a short-term foster parent may not be best placed to consider what is in the long-term financial interests of the child. Several submitters who were foster children also said they want the same rights as other children in New Zealand. This fact has been conveniently omitted by officials pushing their point of view. The committee also heard concerns about situations where foster care arrangements are short term and may change over time. One submitter noted that a child's caregivers may have different views about finances including KiwiSaver. No one is forcing any foster parent to contribute to a KiwiSaver account. A KiwiSaver account simply protects any money the child has placed into it against any potential abuse by an adult. It may be difficult for KiwiSaver scheme providers to identify who is authorised to enrol a child into KiwiSaver—not if the legislation is clear. Officials recommended amending the bill to enable only those foster parents who have committed to a long-term care arrangement to enrol a child in KiwiSaver without the consent of a child's other legal guardians. The National Party will be lodging Supplementary Order Papers at the next reading on this bill and I just want to touch briefly on the National Party minority view. National members are concerned that the original intent of the legislation will not be achieved and that foster parents with children in their care are not able to enrol them in KiwiSaver. National members accept that there will be several hundred children that will have the opportunity to open a KiwiSaver account. However this bill does not achieve the original intent and fails to assist the remaining 5500 foster children.This bill was always intended to provide a pathway for foster parents to enrol a child in their care in KiwiSaver whose only existing guardian was the CEO of Oranga Tamariki and the evidence to date was there is no effective pathway to that CEO. Experience with trying to get a social worker to carry out that application to the CEO which is the current route has proven fruitless. I have examples of foster parents trying to open up KiwiSaver accounts which as I said earlier is why we're here today. Megan Barclay whose child has been in her care for several years—she's been trying for the last three or four years to become the legal guardian and has still not achieved her purpose her goal of giving financial security to her foster children to ensure they have a secure financial future. She has been fighting Oranga Tamariki for over three years and to date no luck. That child will not benefit from the amended bill as suggested by the select committee.I just want to finish up with thanking the select committee under the leadership of Gareth Hughes for working with me on this bill. It hasn't been easy but I just really want to thank all members of the House for supporting this and ensuring we give a level playing field for those foster children living in New Zealand.DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'll just remind the member: I didn't stop him during the speech but you shouldn't be reading your second reading speech. You should be able to do that. You might be new but you're not that new.