Chhour KarenKAREN CHHOUR (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of ACT to speak on the Children and Young People's Commission Bill and the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Bill.There are so many emotions that I'm feeling right now from anger to disappointment to despair to just plain disgust at the Labour Party. I hear a member across the House heckling away trying to prove their point saying Do something now." Five years you've worked on this and this is all you can come up with?The Labour Party says they care about our children; they want to make sure that not one more baby is lost. Why are we concentrating on a bill that puts the organisation before our children? This bill does not put children's voices at the forefront; it puts the organisation at the forefront. I would just like to read out some of the voices that we heard. From Manaaki Rangatahi Aaron Hendry quotes: "It is gravely concerning that the voices of care-experienced rangatahi are being ignored. Moving forward with this bill in the face of opposition from those with lived experience sends a message to our young people that their voices do not matter. This decision risks retraumatising and silencing young people who have already suffered at the hands of our system that has historically acted without listening to young people and in doing so is to harm them."VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai: "Oranga Tamariki needs oversight but not in a way that it undermines the voice and protection of vulnerable tamariki and rangatahi in our care system" says Mary-Lynn vice-chair of VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai National Youth Council."The Government has not listened to a single recommendation from young people with lived experience on this bill. These young people have been effectively silenced and the new systems outlined by this bill is designed to further muffle and weaken their voices" Tracie Shipton CEO of VOYCE. "We ask that the Government doesn't bother with the select committee public consultation process. If it's not going to have any influence on the outcome. Be brave enough to at least be honest. Know that the outcome is predetermined by those in power rather than those they are supposed to serve"—Ms Shipton from VOYCE.And one more: "If you do not bring the affected communities on the journey with you from the beginning you will not make any meaningful change or progress. As a young care-experienced Māori I'm sick of seeing the communities I'm part of being displaced and systems that are supposed to be working on their behalf" from Karah Mackie chair of VOYCE National Youth Council. Once again another young person's voice that's been shattered. State care survivor Tupua Urlich is appalled by the bill and what he views has been an undemocratic process in its design. "The very people our members of Parliament are supposed to represent have been seriously misrepresented."I stand here today and I say to those youth and those organisations that came before our select committee laid their souls out in front of us told us their stories of how they've had to deal with this system for years and years and years and always been told there's nothing to see here that I heard you; we heard you. And I'm sorry that this Government is so arrogant that they are not listening. We need to start listening. I sat at the royal commission review yesterday and listened to the response from our CEO of Oranga Tamariki answering to the submissions from the victims. There is pain there is hurt and that's not going to go away. It's only going to be made worse by this. Our children need to know that they can voice their concerns; they can cry out for help and they will be heard. These are children that have been through such traumatic experiences that we need to make this process as simple as possible for them. Instead we've complicated it into three separate organisations creating more barriers for our most vulnerable youth to get help.If we really really cared about our young people's future and wanted to make sure that not one more baby was lost this would be the second part of the change that we would be doing. The first part would be making sure that they don't get to this place in the first place—where they have to lay a complaint. Why have they got to the point where they're having to go to the ombudsman the Children's Commissioner or an independent children's monitor? Because we are rescuing our babies from our system. Our children are going from one bad house to another bad house. And then when they try and voice that they're not safe in a place that our system put them in we're creating more barriers with this complicated bill. How insulting. I've heard members across the House talk about thanking the young people for coming before us acknowledging the young people for coming before us. If you are really thankful and grateful you would have listened to them. This bill talks about making sure we listen to young people's voices; that these three separate organisations hear our young people's voices. Well if this Government has set the example for what listening is God help our children.I am disgusted that the people that sat in front of those submitters can sit here and genuinely say they are happy with this bill. I've heard there was lots of consultation round in the communities. Well where were those people submitting saying "We love this bill great push it through."? Where were they? If your consultation was so wonderful when they heard there was so much opposition to this why didn't they put their hands up and say "Yes Labour did come talk to us and we think this is a fantastic idea."?Instead we had over 400 submissions with the majority of the submissions saying "Please don't do this." Begging you "Please don't do this. Our children will not be safe. Our children will be left in situations where they will be harmed hurt or worse. They will fall through the cracks." But nobody's listening once again. Their voices are worthless in the eyes of this Government. Because if you really did care about our young people's voices this bill would go back to select committee for a better process.Who will be the next person sitting at a royal commission of inquiry in 20 years' time apologising for the damage that this bill has done? We repeat history over and over and over again and the excuse I keep hearing is "You just don't understand." The very people that do understand are the people that sat before us in the select committee process and begged and pleaded with the Labour Government to listen.Hon Member: The ones who lived it.KAREN CHHOUR: The ones who lived it the ones who are living it and the ones that are going to live it. Because the focus should be on why they're getting there in the first place—and if Labour really cared they would have dealt with that first. I oppose this bill."