Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): Thank you very much Mr Assistant Speaker. It's a delight to stand and take this call on behalf of New Zealand First on the Families Package (Income Tax and Benefits) Bill. This is a true example of what is in reality probably the first real MMP Government this country has ever had. This is not an example of a large party with some cling-ons. This is not an example of a large party that said Here have some crumbs from the table. Give us your vote and then we'll just go about our business." This is finally for New Zealand an example of what MMP was supposed to bring in. Finally we have a coalition Government between the Labour Party and New Zealand First with support partners from the Green Party cohesively cooperatively and collegially working together to create this piece of legislation.It is no shock that the National Party has stood—or their speakers to date anyway—to say that they hate this bill. It's no shock because they're still living in the neo-liberal 90s. They're still living in a situation where they believe that every one of the New Zealanders—the massive number of New Zealanders—who are going to be lifted out of poverty by this bill should be an individual in their own right that they should look after themselves and that the State will not care for you.In Part 1 of this bill the Best Start tax package is going to support once again—since the universal family benefit was abolished in this country by a National Government this will be the first time since I think it was the 1990s that we will once again as a Government say to New Zealanders to the world "We will put children first. We will support our babies." This Government has already moved a piece of legislation to make sure that we showed that to New Zealanders and the world with regard to the extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks and once again we do it again.I want to just show—this is a file that I was working on on behalf of New Zealand First before the election and it's labelled "universal child allowance". This is how in tune this coalition Government is that this work was already being done by New Zealand First at the same time as it was being done by the Labour Party because the need for this piece of legislation is so great. What we have inside of this piece of legislation with the Families Package is an opportunity in the next so many hours to pass a piece of legislation that will lift 88000 children out of poverty. But it's not just those children. There will be—I think I've got some numbers here about the number of families. By 2019 this piece of legislation will have assisted 385000 families. They are middle and lower New Zealand families. These are the families—the women who came up to us to have a meeting with me up in the North who said "We're middle-income earners at home looking after our children and we get nothing from the National Government. We get no recognition from our Government that looking after children is actually important work. We get no recognition that this is part of what must be done—we must care for our children." And this is what this Government will do. There is estimated to be 748000 children living in those 385000 families. That is what this piece of legislation will do. This piece of legislation—no it will not because it will repeal the tax cuts that the National Government put forward last year. Oh it was earlier this year probably—lots of water's gone under the bridge since then. And I acknowledge that New Zealand First voted in favour of that piece of legislation. We did so because of the accommodation supplement. We knew how desperate—desperate—New Zealanders were to actually get anything more to assist them to get out of cars to get of motels and to get out of garages with family members. That is why New Zealand First supported that piece of legislation because at that time we knew the desperation of the New Zealanders and their living conditions. As per normal with the National Government they rolled up a sweetie with a drop of poison and that was the tax package.So this is an opportunity to take the piece that New Zealanders need and leave behind the bit that nobody asked for. None of the New Zealanders that will be helped by this package none of the 385000 families none of 748000 children none of the 608000 families—the 63 percent with children in this country that will benefit in an enormous way—asked for a tax cut. They asked for a Government that cared. They asked for a Government that had empathy and understanding. They asked for a Government that put them first—not international speculators not international buyers not other people but them. They asked for the divide between the rich and poor to be addressed and this will go some way for it.Mr Brownlee made a comment that the only reason this Government is in the manifestation that it is—he suggested it was because of one man. I don't know what dictatorship the National Party works under but I can confirm for the New Zealand public there was nothing dictatorial about the intense conversation that the New Zealand First caucus and the New Zealand First board had about the responsibility of selecting a Government for New Zealand during the negotiation process and I know because I was there every day.What we chose was the change that needed to take place. We chose a truly MMP environment—finally. We chose a Government that would recognise and acknowledge that these steps needed to be taken to turn back the neo-liberalism that had taken place and that had harmed our country—harmed our country.We know that there will be fewer families showing up at food banks. We know that there will be fewer families and children and older people showing up at our hospitals.Hon David Bennett: Enjoy it Fletch. You ain't going to see it again. Ha ha! You'll have to get a real job now bro.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: Mr Bennett is shouting out because Mr Bennett—he always shouts out. He doesn't seem to take this place very seriously which is interesting for the length of time he's been here. There were 9300 senior citizens hospitalised last year with pneumonia—no keep smiling Mr Bennett. Keep smiling Mr Bennett. There were 9360 superannuitants who ended up in hospital last year because they couldn't afford their winter energy bill and now this Government will do something about it. Now this Government will do something about it because for nine long years that Government did nothing. They suggested we might give you $20 a week. They suggested that you can look after yourself—"Well there's a foodbank down the road." or "Let's let another charity start up." How Dickensian. How Dickensian to decide that in this nation a nation of plenty what would be the answer is charities and non-profit organisations to deal with what the Government should have held responsibility for.This Government takes the responsibility. This Government will deliver for the people of New Zealand and this Government holds the majority of the votes that were cast in 2017—this Government. Hon David Bennett: They hold the majority—the Greens. They're your mates.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: This Government holds the majority of votes in 2017 with our supply and confidence partner. The first good rule of Government Mr Bennett is to count. Figure out how to count—57-63 doesn't cut it. It doesn't cut it. This is the unfortunate thing: that party still lives in a first-past-the-post environment. That party still lives in a neo-liberal—Hon Amy Adams: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In Speaker Mallard's ruling when he gave the urgent debate this afternoon he made it very clear that as a consequence the debates on this bill would be strictly limited to the matters in this bill and we've just had a long diatribe from the member Tracey Martin wanting to relitigate the election results. While that might make her feel better it certainly cannot be construed as a narrow tightly focused debate on the principles of this bill.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: Speaking to the point of order Mr Speaker.The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): I don't need any more assistance thank you very much. I take the member's point. There has been some drifting. Most of the member's speech has been relevant—just not the point at the end about 30 seconds and maybe that's enough.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: I finish my time with this. I'm very grateful to my Labour Party Cabinet colleagues and to the Green Party support members there for the inclusion of orphans unsupported children and foster children inside this piece of legislation. So often they had been forgotten. So often they had been neglected particularly by the previous Government. So it's wonderful to work with people who actually listen have collaborative conversations and make sure that the voice of all New Zealanders are inside of the legislation we pass. Kia ora."