Lole-Taylor Asenati: Vulnerable Children Bill Children Young Persons and Their Families (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill KiwiSaver (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLole-Taylor Asenati: Vulnerable Children Bill Children Young Persons and Their Families (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill KiwiSaver (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 19 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18749. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Le’aufa’amulia ASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR (NZ First):Talofa lava kia ora and thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to talk about this legislation in its third and final reading. The legislation sets out to achieve some goals. It proposes solutions that are much needed for problems given the epidemic that has been in existence for quite a while in New Zealand. We are all aware that problems associated with vulnerable children are complex and so the solutions identified in this legislation may go only so far. The member who has just spoken is absolutely right: it is not perfect legislation—not yet. Obviously we need to look at this legislation carefully because there are underlying issues that must be clarified. After all we do not want the same situation as with legal highs and the Psychoactive Substances Bill to be repeated in this House and we certainly need to avoid causing harm to our tamaiti and fanau.Although the legislation rightly focuses on reinforcing the need for shared responsibility better accountability harm minimisation and increased support for the protection of vulnerable children let us be clear here: there are loopholes. Vulnerable children are defined as children who are at significant risk of harm to their well-being now and into the future as a consequence of the environment in which they are being raised and in some cases due to their own complex needs. It is a very good definition with a telling measure of how effective the legislation can be. It gives the harsh reality of why we have so many vulnerable children in our country. The journey for better outcomes still finds only a band-aid solution. That is not to say that answers are easy or plentiful. In fact the legislation poses some good answers to past problems and we acknowledge that. However a responsible Government should always look at the fundamental issues that lead to our societal woes.More and more within our communities we can see that families are broken. They are wrecked frustrated and of course unhappy. Children are hungry. They are insecure. We have far too many children right now at risk and families are struggling. Parents are jobless and desperate for help. There are not enough jobs out there. There is not enough work for them with reasonable wages or salaries. Finances are crumbling because wages are too low. The increasing costs of education health and basic needs are too high. Although the recent Budget actually dished out the New Zealand First policy of free general practitioner visits for children up to intermediate school level sadly they still have to wait for a number of months before they can get it. Morals principles and values are weakening and these important fundamental pillars of our society are clearly being ignored and considered unimportant. And the list goes on. All the while addiction to substances that make anxiety go away is increasing. Our unhealthy culture of drug and alcohol use is rife.Although the legislation arising from the Vulnerable Children Bill offers worthwhile measures to mitigate the societal ills currently threatening the safety of our children I say we must remember the fundamental issues beneath this problem. Let us not forget the fundamental issues that cause the problem highlighted in this legislation. Research on the issue of child abuse has shown that it is closely linked to economic and social deprivation. These are the types of core issues that the Government needs to pay attention to. I must say that today is the day that I agree with a phrase that the chair of our Social Services Committee mentioned about poverty—that poverty is not an excuse for child abuse—and I have said it quite a number of times even when I came into Parliament at the beginning. It is not an excuse but it does not help—it does not help. These issues are inextricably linked to vulnerable children.This Government has allowed integral core community issues to spiral out of control. It has been too focused on delivering the best outcomes for the select few while neglecting others in need. Just look at its hasty U-turn on legal highs. It let the problem fester while the community suffered and now the fix is going to come at a huge cost to everyone involved. New Zealand is no longer the healthy egalitarian society it once was. The obvious imbalances amongst our communities have only worsened under this Government. Doing something to seriously address these kinds of fundamental issues will be more effective at healing the wound inflicted on our society and that is vulnerable children. If the Government does nothing to remedy the fundamental problems of our country then wounds like this will grow too large for band-aid fixes.Many vulnerable children come from families who are struggling to support themselves under the weight of the high cost of living and unemployment. Whenever the Government wants to score political points the words “Māori” and “Pasifika” will come up and it is always in relation to social issues or law and order situations. But it is not only Māori and Pacific families who are feeling the pressure; it is a national issue felt by families throughout the country. Many are on the brink of collapse just waiting to fall into a world of child abuse domestic and family violence and of course criminal offending. That is why it is important here to reinforce the need to tackle prevention rather than constantly trying to respond once harm is done.Many abuses that have occurred involved volunteers. A lot of the cases being identified and highlighted involved those who have offered to do voluntary tasks for children. The bills fail to recognise the reality of the severe risk associated with children which defies all logic when writing legislation that intends to protect vulnerable children. The Government should not discount this connection. Anyone with good sense would not fail to acknowledge that a significant number of vulnerable children are those already living in hardship and I think that is a word we need to focus on more than “poverty”. A holistic approach is needed to truly protect the well-being of at-risk children from unsafe environments. The Minister tried to justify the omission of the word “volunteers” from this legislation right now. Can we afford to say that about a child’s life or child safety? Can we afford to say that? Can we afford to ignore the pleas from parents and schools about the lack of resources for them to protect their children? This includes unaffordable housing extremely low incomes a long list of unemployed and of course poor health.In spite of all this it was clear before this legislation came into the House that better legislative frameworks polices and practices were needed to improve the lives and experiences of children and young people in New Zealand. New Zealand First supports the provisions in the legislation that specifically address New Zealand’s high rates of child abuse and neglect because the overwhelming evidence shows that it is an urgent issue that should be addressed. Minister Bennett said at the Committee stage that screening volunteers is needed just not this time round. Well when? When more children are abused or more families have the opportunity to assault or abuse a child? Brené Brown said that “The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging in fact can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance because believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic vulnerable and imperfect.”