1. Question No. 1—ChildrenHon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour) to the Minister for ChildrenORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Children1. Hon WILLOW-JEAN PRIME (Labour) to the Minister for Children: Does she stand by all her statements and actions?Hon KAREN CHHOUR (Minister for Children): Yes especially my statement that my goal is to ensure that Oranga Tamariki is a truly child-centric care and protection agency where the safety of children is at the forefront of social work practice and decision making.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Does she agree with the Children's Commissioner who said about bootcamps that International and domestic evidence is clear these types of approaches don't work in the long-term" or does she completely disagree like the Prime Minister?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Whilst that isn't a statement that I myself made I do agree that we do need to have an holistic approach when it comes to our young people but I disagree with part of that statement as well.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Does she stand by her statement in respect of the 6.5 percent savings that "There will be no financial impact and there has been no impact on the front-line services. This is a guarantee."?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Yes. When we were doing the restructure 6.5 percent was aimed at back-office staff. Front-line staff were out of scope within this restructure and I stand by that.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Does she agree with the Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani when he said "There is not enough money to meet the needs that we see every day. There just isn't." and if so why did she not seek to be excluded from the 6.5 percent savings exercise required by the Minister of Finance?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Whilst there was a 6.5 percent saving those savings were taken out of the back office and redirected to the front office where there was a lack of resources and tools for front-line staff. Front-line staff are my focus and will continue to be so.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Why is she allowing funding to be clawed back from front-line community providers when they say the need is still there and when she stated in Estimates that "We need to make sure that the front-line services are actually being resourced to be able to do their job and do their job well."?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Quite frankly if there is money left over it's not going to sit in the bank accounts of NGOs that haven't spent it; it's going to be sent back to the organisation to be redistributed to the ones that need that money.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Will she acknowledge that persistent leaking of documents the Minister dismissing officials' advice Oranga Tamariki lawyers being forced to seek advice from King's Counsel over a failed restructure and now headlines about the Oranga Tamariki chief executive officer hitting out at staff are all a clear sign that Oranga Tamariki is imploding under her watch?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Whilst that doesn't come under the scope of the original question I will answer that. Actually I—Hon Willow-Jean Prime: It's under your watch—your actions.Hon KAREN CHHOUR: It's not my statement or my actions. You've spoken about—SPEAKER: Excuse me—[Interruption] Can you stop for a minute—just stop. The only person who judges whether it's in the scope of the question or not is me. If a question is asked and not stopped assume it's in scope. Please just give an answer and the rest of the House will listen while the answer is given.Hon KAREN CHHOUR: I disagree with the fact that it's a failed restructure. This restructure is focusing on the front-line staff making sure they have the tools necessary to do their jobs so that our children are at the centre of every decision that we're making.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: It's imploding!Hon David Seymour: Supplementary—SPEAKER: Sorry just a moment. We're just not going to have these calls out in the middle of a question. You're right at the edge of it I admit but it's not particularly helpful.Hon David Seymour: Is it the Minister's belief that it's possible to get better results in some areas with less money and if so what are some of the values and initiatives that she's brought to her leadership of Oranga Tamariki to achieve it?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Yes we need to actually focus on where the problems lie and my focus has been on going around visiting organisations to see where the issues and problems lie. Lots were in the youth justice and care and protection facilities which is where I'm putting a big focus to make sure that our young people come out better than when they went in.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: In the Minister's answer to my first supplementary question which part of the question did she disagree with?Hon KAREN CHHOUR: Could you repeat the whole question again so that I can give you an answer?Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Happy to.SPEAKER: No—hang on a minute. The question is about the Minister's answer.Hon KAREN CHHOUR: I'm not sure which question she's asking about.SPEAKER: Well sorry we can't do that. We could go on for ever doing that. Just give some kind of answer. There must have been a reason why the Minister said what she said.Hon David Seymour: Point of order. In the most recent supplementary question Willow-Jean Prime actually asked which part of the question did the Minister disagree with. I'm sure the Minister would probably—SPEAKER: Thank you very much. Sit down. The Minister's answer said that she disagreed with part of the question. I remember that very clearly. It's in the Hansard. The Minister I'm sure remembers which part of the question she didn't agree with.Hon KAREN CHHOUR: From my understanding part of the question was around a holistic approach from the Children's Commissioner and the other part was about punitive and I don't agree that we're going down a punitive road.Hon Willow-Jean Prime: Point of order. That wasn't the question.SPEAKER: Well then that's unfortunate because that's the answer. If you've got another question ask it."