Bennett Paula: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Bennett Paula: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:673;Page:19347] 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) 
: 
 I stand to speak about the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. I stand at this point and say thank you for the work of Dr John Angus who has been an outstanding Children’s Commissioner for 2 years. His focus has been on social work which is his background and on best practice which was a key focus for him. I also thank him particularly for some of the work he did in some of the youth justice facilities. I am not sure that people always recognise the extent of responsibility that the Children’s Commissioner has. The office has a statutory responsibility. It is a place where parents can go for independent advice and advocacy. It is also a place that holds Child Youth and Family to account if parents need another avenue to go to. Its commissioners also visit all youth justice and care and protection facilities look at the practices there and take any complaints. 
I particularly thank John Angus for the work he has done with some of our practices within youth justice. I personally asked him to do an inquiry at one stage when I was concerned about some of the gender mixing in some of those facilities. He went in there and I felt the advice he gave was incredibly sound. We have picked up the recommendations he made and I think the practice we have in our youth justice facilities is a lot in part to the work he has done in the last 2 to 2½ years. This is my opportunity to put my thanks on record. 
This is also my opportunity to welcome a new Children’s Commissioner who will be coming in in a few weeks’ time. He is Dr Russell Wills who is a working paediatrician at Hawke’s Bay Hospital. He will bring another dimension to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner that I think is really really important. I think we need to mix it up a little bit and have different commissioners who bring a different focus. I think the office itself should run in an incredibly steady manner under a general manager. The practice is pretty good on a day-to-day basis but I think a different commissioner can bring a different view and I think that is a strength and it is something I really wanted to bring to the commission. 
We have just heard what felt like I do not know an absolute buck-pass on the Families Commission. It was the baby of a previous commissioner who now sits in this House as a member of Parliament. He stood up and gave the most abysmal— 
Hon Christopher Finlayson 
: The most sanctimonious member of Parliament. 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: —sanctimonious claptrap on why he thinks the Families Commission is not currently working but with nothing behind it. I found it kind of shameful. 
I think the Families Commission in its respect is doing the best it can with the legislation it currently has. It is very much focused on families on making sure we have some of that research and evaluation that goes behind it and on hearing the voices of families. I always remember one of the great pieces of work by a previous Families Commissioner—and this will be enlightening to the whole Committee I am sure—that fathers in prison do not father as well as those who are out of prison. That took a number of months of research. It was one of the more enlightening pieces of research that I am sure the previous speaker is incredibly proud of and something I am sure he takes to real heart. It does not come as a great surprise to me that Labour has now decided it will bag the Families Commission. It is time that that member stood up and said sorry for being a previous Families Commissioner who did such an abysmal job and wasted so much taxpayers’ money that he should be ashamed of what he did for all of those years. 
I would be quite open to him taking another call and apologising to New Zealanders for some of the shocking research that came out in his time. I can mention some. One piece of qualitative research it did for over a year was to speak to 28 people. From that research it was able to devise something that had no substance to it and was not helpful at all to New Zealanders. 
I stand here now to thank the Children’s Commissioner. Since I have been the Minister I have put another $500000 into the Office of the Children’s Commissioner because I think the Children’s Commissioner holds us to account. The focus of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner is directly on children and it has a statutory responsibility as well. I certainly want to put on record my sincere thanks to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for the work it does and the work I know it will continue to do on behalf of children. 
Reports noted.