Stewart Barbara: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Stewart Barbara: Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
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BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to support the third reading of the Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill. Firstly I must congratulate Sue Bradford on her success in getting this very important member’s bill now a Government bill to this stage. It is a very important initiative and one we are pleased to support. It is good to see a bill like this having considerable support from right across the House. This is also an opportunity to show that we are serious about ensuring that all children get the best possible start in their early years—far better than perhaps some of those babies would have had when their mothers were in prison. 
The Corrections (Mothers with Babies) Amendment Bill provides for a prison environment—unfortunately—that will support a child’s health. It will reduce social hazards and all of the conditions that affect a child’s well-being such as poverty gambling smoking or drug abuse. This bill has generated a very worthwhile debate. New Zealand First will be interested to monitor the results because it will ensure that any mother who is imprisoned with her baby will be able to continue bonding with and caring for that baby in a very controlled very secure environment with some supervision and oversight of the health and welfare of the baby. We can see that the benefits for the baby will be great. It is excellent that the baby will be able to bond with the mother. 
New Zealand First believes that this area needs to be carefully monitored so that mothers as a condition of having their babies with them have to attend parenting classes regularly if they are to continue enjoying having their child with them. The early years are very very important and many of these mothers would not have attended any parenting courses at all. This is an opportunity for this group of people to learn those very important parenting skills in a controlled environment and also for them to form a secure attachment to their child. Prison will be beneficial—unfortunately—for this group of vulnerable people with no drugs or alcohol with nutritious food with support for the mother and the baby and with well child checks being carried out which we believe is absolutely essential. With regard to those mothers who choose not to have their babies with them we say that that is their choice as well. We know that it is not compulsory. 
I was talking with my colleague Ron Mark and he reminded me that some groups of people do not necessarily agree that this scenario—a baby in prison with its mother—would benefit the child. Their argument is that a child is raised by a village and the wider whanau and that it was not unusual for the whanau to take a child from the mother when that was the best option given the mother’s lifestyle and/or drug or alcohol habits. This is a very valid argument and it reinforces the fact that a choice can be made. New Zealand First recognises that the well-being of children is absolutely paramount and that all children deserve the best possible start in life. It reminds me of a quote that we often heard from the Hon Brian Donnelly who was responsible for teaching children. He said that the future we give our children determines the future we receive. 
All of the reports we have read emphasise the advantages throughout life of having a mother and her child bonding. New Zealand First has some concerns about the separation of the mother and child when the child turns 2 years of age. It can be far more traumatic for a child to be separated from his or her mother at 2 years of age than as a baby; and as a mother I know that this separation will have to be very carefully managed for both the mother and the child. We believe that we have made a step forward but it may very well be that the age limit will need to be reviewed and even extended—and I can see that Sue Bradford actually agrees with that. 
It is unfortunate that children are the innocent and unfortunate victims in these cases. It has been mentioned previously that some young women may deliberately get pregnant prior to going to prison so that they will have an easier term in prison. Well that is definitely not a factor that any law can control in any way but it is to be hoped that if that is the case then both the child and the mother will benefit from the controlled environment they find themselves in and that the outcome will be far better than it otherwise would have been. 
We are pleased that Minister Goff has announced and ensured that there is a budget to support this legislation. We are aware that resources are needed and we understand too that there may be a brief lag between the passing of this legislation and its implementation. It is an unfortunate fact as earlier speakers have said that life is not perfect but this is an opportunity whereby some babies can have a better start in life than they might otherwise have had in some environments. We are pleased to be catching up with the rest of the world. We have had the statistics quoted to us and we are aware that we are behind in this area. 
So in conclusion I just say that New Zealand First supports this bill and it thanks Sue Bradford for bringing this matter to the attention of the House.