Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Chairperson Tolley. I'm really pleased to speak in this particular debate. The families package that National would have had very much focused on children and particularly those that were particularly vulnerable. Sarah Dowie's amendment which I want to commend to the committee is basically saying that we would expect that a parent who is receiving a Best Start family tax credit would then actually have at least the 15- to 18-month core Well Child check and that is absolutely in line with this Government's objectives around improving and ensuring that children get the best start in life. I do want to commend the Government on that. It is something that we absolutely have in common on this side of the House. I would say that one of the differences though is that we would like to ensure that any taxpayer funds are actually spent in the most effective way and that is by ensuring that every child—every child—in this country gets the benefit of that investment. So I want to commend Sarah Dowie for putting this amendment before the committee. We have a fantastic framework in the Well Child check. It's allowing families to choose who their Well Child provider is but it's also a really important checkpoint on a child's well-being. I'd be really interested if the Minister in the chair Carmel Sepuloni could provide some really clear advice in terms of their consideration of the Well Child programme—and in particular the core checks—and whether or not this was considered as part of the Best Start payments. But I am very very optimistic given the intent and the stated objectives of the Families Package (Income Tax and Benefits) Bill. It's very well aligned. It's very in support of the objective of this piece of legislation. So I would be hoping that the Minister in the chair would take a call to go through this in more detail in terms of ensuring that children get the best start in life. But I do think also because of the other stated objective around reducing child poverty the Well Child programme is one that reaches every child in New Zealand. So it provides the opportunity for professionals of a parent's choice to be able to understand and perhaps identify if that family is having some challenges or some struggles and provides the opportunity whether it's physical learning issues—and my colleague the MP Sarah Dowie has identified specifically some of the things that would prepare a child for early childhood education whether it's hearing or vision. But also the Well Child checks are a really important part of engaging with someone else in the community—a professional—who is able to spot you know are there any family violence issues potentially in that family. Is it a family that's struggling financially and perhaps there is support through the benefit system that they are not getting for example. So we do want to make sure that this is an important opportunity to connect with a family to ensure that the children in that family through this Well Child check—this core check at 15 to 18 months—are identified and we maximise the opportunity of making the taxpayer investment in these children to make sure that every child and particularly those children with additional needs have their needs met. So I think this is a fantastic amendment and I want to really commend my colleague Sarah Dowie for putting it in. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to set children up for the rest of their lives and to prepare them and to ensure that they are ready for full participation in early childhood education. But it's also a really great opportunity to see if there's further assistance that would be required for a family in order to support them in you know what are challenging times for families anyway but we know that some New Zealand families have even greater challenges that they are facing. On this side of the House we don't want them to face them on their own. We want to ensure that those who have access to those families can ensure that they have greater protections and greater access to the support that they need in times of need.