Hereora Dave: General Debate 
Hereora Dave: General Debate 
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DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
:  
I want to talk about the Government’s policy roll-out on 1 July but I just want to make a comment in relation to two of the previous speakers. Firstly I respond to Mr Tau Henare and just place on record his comments surrounding the situation of monitoring in Te Puni Kokiri and the reports and recommendations from the Audit Office. The Maori Affairs Committee was concerned about the level of monitoring in Te Puni Kokiri and we have decided to foster a better relationship with the agency and therefore invite Te Puni Kokiri officials on a regular basis back to the committee for that purpose. So it is about the committee getting involved and also making sure that we are nurturing the process through in order to live up to the recommendations that the Audit Office has indicated. 
Secondly I just want to talk about the comments from Paula Bennett in relation to the 20 hours’ free early childhood education and her comments about the Government being out of touch. I have a copy of the latest New Zealand Educational Institute magazine and I want to quote a few comments made in this magazine. “ ‘We’re really excited about it!’ says Kay Harland supervisor of the Otatara Children’s Centre in Taradale summing up the overwhelmingly positive response  
NZEI Rourou 
 has found to the introduction of the 20 hours free early childhood education on July 1.” So I cannot work out how Paula Bennett thinks we are out of touch because that magazine represents over 40000 members and they are endorsing the policy. 
Furthermore the article states: “It surprised me when we worked out how much the average family would save!”. Families are able to save under this policy and I am really not quite sure why those members are not supporting it. Finally the article states: “Families who could only afford to pay for one day for their child before will be able to afford three days now.” Well is that not better? Pray tell me who is out of touch here? Is it us or yous? I am of the opinion that it is probably yous. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: I just want to remind the member that this afternoon we have been pulling everyone up for bringing the Speaker into the conversation so just watch the— 
DAVE HEREORA 
: Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. I just want to add to that previous comment a comment about Maori participation rates in early childhood education. The most recent statistics show that the number of children reported to have participated in early childhood education on entry to school was 90 percent for Maori up from 84.8 percent. That is great. Finally we have a good participation rate for Maori so the policy must be working. How out of touch can that be? I want to move on— 
Anne Tolley 
: It hasn’t started yet. 
DAVE HEREORA 
: Well that is right; it has not. It is going to and it is going to work. 
I want to move on to 1 July when workers from all income brackets will be better off with KiwiSaver as opposed to National’s proposed tax cuts. Low-income earners stand to gain the most once the scheme comes into full effect—members should listen to this—with minimum wage earners capable of being five times better off under KiwiSaver than they would have been with a tax cut. We know that that area particularly is represented by mostly Maori and Pacific Islanders. 
Anne Tolley 
: How do they get it? 
DAVE HEREORA 
: How do they get it? They get it through tax credits that match individuals’ contributions into KiwiSaver up to a maximum of $20 per week. That will be paid into members’ accounts after the end of July each year from July 2008. So there is a lot of enthusiasm out there particularly from workers to finally have the opportunity to get in and share in what a lot of people in this country have been able to share in—getting into a long-term savings scheme. It can only be good for us and it can only be good for the country. I reiterate that KiwiSaver will give future generations security by promoting savings habits helping Kiwis to save for their retirement and developing a larger pool of domestic capital to promote New Zealand’s investment in New Zealand. It will reduce demand taking pressure off interest rates and it will help New Zealand companies to retain skilled workers. 
The other area of change that happens on 1 July relates to paid parental leave. Paid parental leave is a policy that I understand the National Party opposed and continues to oppose. So I am wondering what is behind that. Why is the National Party opposing it? It is good for families.