Salesa JennyHon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Building and Construction): Thank you very much Mr Speaker and as this is my first speech to the House for this 52nd Parliament can I just begin by congratulating all of our new members across the House. Can I also congratulate the Hon Trevor Mallard—Hon Ruth Dyson: The right honourable.Hon JENNY SALESA: —the Rt Hon Trevor Mallard—for being our new Speaker of the House and I sure hope that you will be patient with all of us Mr Speaker. Can I also just say that I was heartened by your speech yesterday Trevor Mallard because you said you wanted this House to be a much more family-friendly environment and can I just say that in this House right now we have Heeni right here. So thank you for your words yesterday Mr Speaker.I am humbled that the very first piece of legislation under this new Labour-led Government is an extension to paid parental leave. This has been a long battle with many barriers that have been put up especially by members from across the opposite side of this House and I'd like to take this moment if you would allow me to acknowledge the former colleague Sue Moroney for all of her work for having championed paid parental leave for many many years. Sue—she fought an amazing campaign. She had the support of the majority of this House and we know that this is not the first time that we're actually debating this paid parental leave legislation. At the very last moment when this paid parental leave was brought to this House it was financially vetoed by the former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Bill English. So now we can complete her legacy in this House.I'd like to also spend a few moments to address the previous member who spoke on this bill—a kind reminder to the Hon Amy Adams that this is not the first time we are debating paid parental leave in this House. This is not the first time that we have introduced it for first reading and gone through the whole process: select committee second reading third reading. This is not even the second time the Hon Amy Adams that we are going through this process; this is indeed the third time we have discussed paid parental leave. We have had regulatory impact statements we have had departmental reports we have had thousands and thousands of members of the public submitting on paid parental leave. Can I just kindly remind the Hon Amy Adams and the National Party that this is the third time we have debated paid parental leave. It is a no-brainer that extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks will ensure a better start in life for our babies. I'm glad to know now from the Hon Amy Adams that the National Party have done a U-turn. They've finally seen the light and will be supporting this bill at first reading.Paid parental leave is an investment. It is an investment in our parents it is an investment in our children it is investment for all of New Zealand. It will have long-lasting benefits for our children and for Aotearoa New Zealand. We value our people we value our mothers and we value our fathers. Our parents and our children will be at the heart of everything that this new Government will be implementing. Parents in Aotearoa New Zealand can look forward to the passage of 26 weeks' paid parental leave. This is something that the Labour-led Government promised we would deliver on in our first 100 days and in order to support our working families and our newborn children in a better way we will be delivering on that promise. This Government is committed to major investments in housing. We are committed to major investments in education in health in police and in infrastructure. We are also committed to protecting our environment creating more jobs and lifting the incomes of families and reducing child poverty—the very first time that we will have a Minister who will be looking and monitoring to ensure that we reduce child poverty. And we will continue at the same time committing to all of those by making sure that we keep to being a financially and fiscally responsible Government as Labour Governments have been before us.As Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern stated earlier on today No one should live in a car. No one should live on the streets. No one should have to beg for their next meal." No one—no child—should be experiencing poverty. I've seen this first-hand in my area in South Auckland. I've seen mothers who have come to me and these mothers live in cars. They live in garages and I'm glad to be part of a progressive Government that will be addressing inequality that will be eliminating and looking towards ending child poverty. New Zealand should be a fully inclusive supportive society and this is something that this Government is actually focused on: building strong families and ensuring that our children are supported in this journey. The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill is about recognising the importance of bonding between infants and their parents—between Speakers of the House and infants. [Mr Speaker holding a baby] It is about making sure that our children have the best possible start in life. It is about doing what is right.I agree with Plunket who have been in operation in our country for over 100 years. They have been strong supporters of paid parental leave for many many years and I quote from Plunket: "the benefits for society of extending paid parental leave will outweigh the costs over the long term". Enhancing opportunities for infants securing and ensuring that they are attached to the family unit is really crucial especially in the first six months of their lives. Increasing paid parental leave according to Plunket is something that will ensure that we will look at saving costs in health and saving costs to our welfare benefit system. The simple fact is New Zealand is lagging behind the rest of the OECD in paid parental leave. We are one of the lowest countries in the OECD for paid parental leave as it is now. Even when we extend it to 26 weeks we will still be behind the UK which is currently offering 37 paid parental leave weeks.Paid parental leave will be increased to 22 weeks by 1 July next year 2018 and it will go up to 26 weeks by 1 July 2020. Paid parental leave is a key part of our families package—the Labour Party's that is—and I say that it is indeed a pleasure to stand here to be part of a Government three parties where Labour New Zealand First and the Green Party collectively are proud of supporting this paid parental leave bill. It is the right thing to do for our children for our parents for our whānau and for our mokopuna. Today marks the start of a progressive inclusive empathetic and very strong Government. I am proud to support the work of my former colleague Sue Moroney and I'm glad to be part of a Government that will see her vision realised. This begins our work programme to give New Zealand families the best start in life and in the words of Sue and I quote "It is simply about priorities and the priority should be [our] families and giving [our] children the [very] best start in life." Thank you Mr Speaker."