Simmonds PennyPENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise to speak in opposition to the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill in this its second reading.I want to acknowledge the heartfelt and knowledgeable voices of those who have spoken in opposition to this bill tonight—across all the parties in this Parliament aside from Labour. I want to acknowledge the heartfelt way in which they have expressed themselves.The supposed policy objective of this bill is to promote and improve the Oranga Tamariki welfare system and subsequently the outcomes for children and young people in New Zealand. This in itself is laudable but National believes the Government is risking the safety and welfare of children by steaming ahead with this bill despite its significant flaws and despite the significant opposition to it from the public and the sector. The safety of our babies our children our young people is of utmost importance but National cannot and will not support a bill that weakens protection for children—as this bill does.This bill is the result of the Government pulling together a poorly thought through Wellington solution to a very real problem—protecting our children from harm—and then trying to rush it through Parliament hoping no one would notice. It is simply disgraceful that a matter so important as protecting children from harm could go through a truncated consultation process: a submission process timed to coincide with the Christmas holiday break a press release going out on 22 December with the submission period closing on 26 January. There is not one person in this House that does not know putting a press release out on 22 December is designed to silence detractors.That this Government has stooped so low as to take a very significant problem like the safety and wellbeing of our children and play games with a consultation process like this is simply wrong and there should not be one member of this Government sitting here feeling proud of what they have done. Yet despite the cynical attempt to silence detractors despite this flawed submission process 403 written submissions were put in over that holiday period 96 oral submissions were heard by the select committee and the vast majority—311 submitters—expressed strong opposition; eight submitters expressed support.Unlike the Government we have read and listened carefully to the submissions from the many organisations who work with and advocate to improve the lives of our young people every day. Like the submitters our view is that the removal of the role of the independent children's commission and replacing it with a board—where its functions will be shared between three different organisations—will water it down will mean more bureaucracy a less effective voice for advocacy of children.We have railed against this Government putting more into bureaucracy on so many different things. But on this particular issue—the safety and welfare of our children—it defies belief that this Government could seek to do this. My colleagues have explained very carefully that the Government needs to listen and actually hear what the vast majority of experts and organisations who work closely with our children are saying in opposition to this bill.National is committed to ensuring there is a strong independent advocate for children. We believe the current structure of the children's commission that operates under enables this advocacy. Over the 20 years Children's Commissioners have been incredibly effective. There have been some fearless voices in the Children's Commissioner role and they should be fearless voices who can speak unimpeded by cumbersome bureaucratic structures set up to water down their voice. The Children's Commissioner is a well-known established and proven role that has the trust and confidence of the public for monitoring and investigating complaints and advocacy. The fact that the Children's Commissioner is often a vocal critic of the Government of the day whoever is in Government at that time should be seen as a sign of success rather than something to be done away with as an inconvenience. They must be heard.There has been many organisations and people saying the passage of this bill should be paused. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care is ongoing its final report and recommendation due in 2023. Why on earth would this Government not wait for that? To make significant changes to the role of the Children's Commissioner before any findings have been made public from the royal commission of inquiry is an absolute disservice and disrespect to the victims who have come forward during the inquiry to share their stories. We here in Parliament should heed the voices of survivors—who have courageously shared their experiences—before deciding what arrangements serve the best interests of vulnerable children.The sector was not supportive of the bill. Serious concerns were raised by the sector about the bill in particular the significant changes to the children's commission that hadn't been signalled in advance. This and the disgraceful shortened time frame for submissions led Save the Children to initiate a petition which 10700 people supported. The petition asked the House of Representatives to retain the Children's Commissioner as a named role with authority to report directly to the Prime Minister and to consult with children before progressing the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People's Commission Bill.VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai which stands for Voice of the Young and Care Experienced—established in 2017 an independent charity organisation that helps to advocate for the approximately 6000 children with care experience—should be listened to. The Government did not engage with VOYCE during the development of the bill. Unbelievable and a travesty. Then VOYCE submitted on the bill thinking that the process of democracy would hear their account. But again their submission was not taken seriously.Opposition comes from so many different organisations from so many experienced people in this sector. The Government should be ashamed of taking this bill forward.