Ngaro AlfredHon ALFRED NGARO (National): New Zealand is known—Aotearoa is known—as a pioneering nation. It's known because the values that it has over many many years over thousands of years—people have come here and the conditions may have been hard but we've toiled hard on the land and also too with the people to create success.On 5 February 1966 a young New Zealand - born Cook Island boy was born into an old match-lining house and it was three-bedroom. Match lining means there was no insulation. There was an outside toilet and no running hot water and yet there were up to 12 to 15 people living in that house. It's a classic story of migrants coming to this country looking for a better future. That story tells of the classic story. The fact is that in those circumstances though they were hard though they were tough there was an attitude amongst the people to succeed. The reason I preface that in this third reading speech around the Child Poverty Reduction Bill is that poverty is something that as a nation we have struggled with but it's also too been an indication of some of the challenges that we have overcome as a nation to achieve some of the great results.People talk about New Zealand Aotearoa as a country that's punched well above its weight. It does so because we face these hardships with this attitude of can-do: we can achieve; we can overcome. So when we deal with this issue around poverty one of the challenges that we have is that on one hand we have this character this nature this value that we have this characteristic that actually underlies and is the foundation of who we are as a country and as a people but at the same time too we have these challenges of material hardship and also poverty that exist in our country. So I preface that because as we journey through this together—the coalition as the Government of the day with support from National on this side—we do so carefully and cautiously. There are a number of reasons for that. We don't want to do away with that hardship that has made us who we are today. We don't want to do away with at times some of the struggles but what we do want to be sure of is that children in this instance don't become disadvantaged because of those issues and don't come into a situation where they cannot achieve their potential and we know the results of that will make a difference in their case.As we have progressed through this bill can I also too say that this has been an issue that has challenged Governments over a longer period of time. I want to refer to Bryan Perry who was commented on by the Prime Minister in regards to the work that he had completed. In 2017 he completed some work and inside of that work he also connected us to some of the past challenges of dealing with this issue. In 2000 to 2009 there were the child well-being surveys which wanted to measure and monitor what some of the challenges were that were being faced. I have to say under the National Government in 2012 the Child Poverty Monitor technical report was established so that we could get a better handle on where the areas were that we could invest in hence the reason social investment was part of that as well. The Prime Minister indicated around subsidies for children into healthcare and so forth—that was initiated by a National Government.So in saying these things I want to indicate that the fact is that this challenge is nothing new; it's been happening for some time. Each Government of the day will be challenged with this but what we are now saying is that as a whole of Government bar one we are supporting this direction but we hold it tentatively. We hold it tentatively because even though we see these are the measures to measure poverty and the reduction of poverty we know the measures in themselves will not be the only results. I want to quote from Julie Chapman the CEO from KidsCan in her submission where she highlighted that a measure alone would not only be the difference. You see in Bryan Perry's report that he talks about the Government framework—which by the way was established under a National-led Government—and says Let's look at what that framework looks like."When we're talking about poverty we're taking two key areas of indicators: we're talking about income and we're talking about material hardship. We talk about before household income and after household income—income in income out. We're talking about how we measure material hardship and inside of those these are some of the indicators. But Bryan Perry also too wants to remind us that that is not the only indicator that we need to be mindful and thoughtful of in our monitoring in the changes that we perceive. In fact in his report he talks about a framework that also takes into account what he calls "other factors"—not quite technical in its name. What are some of those other factors? They talk about family they talk about whānau and they talk about community. They even talk about other issues in which there is an attitude that people have in their prioritisation and how they live their lives and how they use their resources—some of the areas that we don't quite like to get into because it may seem like a judgment but they are critically important. That's what he would call the non-income measures that are important for us. We don't often talk about them. I want to mention these in the House because I think these are critically important for us to be mindful of.While we have these two other measures that are important we've supported them. Why? That's because on this side we know social investment has given us a framework to look at how we monitor and measure those. So those targets that have been set are critically important. We want to ensure that the Government of the day will ensure that they set the targets. They are multi-targets that will allow them to measure everything from health to education which we think are critically important to the overall well-being of children as well. I think those things are critically important as well. We know that for instance for us we think about those targets.Another area that has been important under the "other factors" that Bryan Perry talks about is what support we're giving to whānau and family. The best welfare system is actually the whānau system—it's the family system. We believe in that. We adhere to that. We think that's critically important. So we think that while we're monitoring and measuring these areas we want to encourage the coalition Government of the day to look at what supports are given to ensure that whānau and family—we're not just talking about income we're not just talking about raising benefit levels; we're talking about other supports that we know other organisations have. NGOs have continued to say in their submissions that it's not just about the income; it's also about how parents and whānau can care for each other in that area as well. So we think that's critically important. We want to make sure we do that.We're looking forward to the Whānau Ora report that will come through as well. We think that's important because on this bill one of the other key areas of indicators that we think are important to pay our mind and our attention to is those for Māori. We are encouraged by the fact that the Minister for Māori Development is factored into the consultation around the strategy as well but also too around the Treaty of Waitangi. Now again there is more work that we think can be done here because if we are going to do something different—if there is a point of difference—we would like to support the development of saying: how can we let Māori present their cases for Māori? Whānau Ora is a case that we think we absolutely support and endorse as well as we're moving ahead in that regard.As I begin to close my comments on this legislation as I said before one of the big challenges—and I said this in my second reading speech actually—for the Prime Minister is the potential to hold this slightly because the potential of this is the stigma that could be created. When we tag a poverty indicator to an income there is the potential around that. When I think about a lot of our families who are migrant families who came here they had low-paying jobs. They didn't have much. In fact in Bryan Perry's report what he also indicates is this: low incomes do not necessitate hardship. That's what he said. So let's be careful that we don't tag the poverty indicator to an income that means people who are working hard who are doing the best that they can to raise their families and who actually do really well—they look after their family they have them go to church and they do other things like that that make sure their children have the best start in life. I would have to say there are many of us and I will put my hand up as one of those where my parents didn't have much but they had an attitude that made sure that we would be successful and that we would do well. I think those are critically important as well. What I want to finish off with is again when I think about what these changes are to the people that are out there—the NGOs that are working incredibly hard people in our communities and with our whānau. The fact is that actually when they can look at the focus not only of this whole of Parliament working collectively together to be able to focus on income focus on material hardship—things that we would indicate as well—I want to remind them that the fact is this: the foundation of this country was built on a pioneering spirit. That means that regardless of the hardships that we faced we had an attitude that we would overcome any of those adversities that we had and I think that's critically important.The reason for the season is the fact is that actually there's a young child that was born in hope. Out of children—out of this hope—throughout the whole of the country and also throughout the nations around the world we hope too that people will enjoy this Christmas and that out there the families that may have been doing it hard will remember that the focus of that is to remember that children are the paramountcy of who we are—they are our future; they are also our present challenges—and also the responsibly they have before them. We do support this legislation and its intent and all that it may achieve into the future for New Zealand. I commend this legislation to the House."