Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTurei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 12 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15834. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) to theMinister for Social Development: What papers or reports if any did her office produce in the last 12 months relating to the measurement of child poverty?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development): In respect of the measurement none.Metiria Turei: Can the Minister confirm for the House that she did not seek any reports on the Children’s Commissioner’s $500000 project to measure and monitor child poverty or even seek advice on whether such a measure was necessary?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I have definitely received reports on child poverty. I am part of the Ministerial Committee on Poverty but I have not sought from my department an argument on the measurements. We are more interested in the actions that need to be taken and those are the reports that I expect from my department.Metiria Turei: Upon whose expert advice did the Minister write off the Children’s Commissioner’s child poverty monitor work?Hon PAULA BENNETT: It was certainly discussed at the Ministerial Committee on Poverty. That is where the discussion took place. That is the advice that I sought.Metiria Turei: Does the Minister see then any connection between the Salvation Army’s D ranking of her failure over child poverty with her express refusal to engage with the Children’s Commissioner’s child poverty monitor project?Rt Hon John Key: You mean D as in Dotcom?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I have heard it said that it might be D for Dotcom but what I would say is that the Ministry of Social Development household income report comes out. It does an accurate analysis of a number of measures. We report it transparently and publicly. It is certainly what we on this side of the House take notice of. As I say it is very transparent. The member can get a copy of it any time. It is that advice that I take.Metiria Turei: If a parent was given a D for looking after their child would she consider that they were doing a good job or not?Hon PAULA BENNETT: For me this gets to the heart of the actual issue. So the member thinks that it is only the Government’s throwing money around and getting into every household and giving them 60 bucks a week for a newborn baby that is going to make the difference. I actually think it is not about just the Government; it is about the Government community and parents themselves actually putting their children first in many instances. It is about what is happening in the streets. It is about what organisations like the Salvation Army do. So I do not think it is a D for the Government. In fact what the Salvation Army did say was that “as a national community we have made credible and worthwhile social progress. It is important to acknowledge and celebrate this because for the most part it is intentional and hard won. The Government should be applauded for its contribution to this progress.”Metiria Turei: Well then how does the Minister explain that for all her rhetoric and chest-thumping and political bluster the reality remains—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the member like to start her question again.Metiria Turei: Thank you Mr Speaker. How then does the Minister explain that for all her rhetoric chest-thumping and political bluster the reality remains that one in every five children in this country remains living in poverty after 5 long years of her Government?Hon PAULA BENNETT: What we have seen by every measure is that it has flat-lined. What we have done through the worst global financial crisis—and people might like to write that off and pretend it did not happen but actually what we did was we putmore money more support into those families that really needed it. We are seeing improvements when we look at the number of jobs that are on board and the opportunities for people to take them up. I am very confident that you are going to see the real results of that.Metiria Turei: Is the Minister refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of having one in every five New Zealand children still living in poverty and is she actively snubbing the commissioner’s work on monitoring child poverty because she does not want to be held accountable for her failure to make any improvement in the lives of those one in five New Zealand children?Hon PAULA BENNETT: And that ladies and gentlemen was chest-thumping. Right so what we have here is actually I do not agree with the member. This is the Government that has introduced the Children’s Action Plan. This is the Government that has put more emphasis on early childhood education and that has increased the amount that goes into accommodation help. It has put an emphasis on rheumatic fever which quite frankly we have not seen at all. We have got after-hours for under-6-year-olds now. We have got food in any school that wants to take it for breakfast. More than $500000 is going to KidsCan to actually help those children. I do take it seriously. I want to see every child in this country thriving and achieving and having the best possible start that they can.