Lole-Taylor Asenati: Vulnerable Children Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLole-Taylor Asenati: Vulnerable Children Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 13 May 2014. Volume:698;Page:17804. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Le’aufa’amuliaASENATI LOLE-TAYLOR (NZ First): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the Vulnerable Children Bill and I want to acknowledge that we support the intentions behind this bill. There is nothing wrong with the intentions but the children out there are hungry. The reason why they are hungry I say to the Minister for Social Development is that they are in the hands of those who do not care about their welfare. They are not being well looked after. They are hungry because their families are actually struggling. My speech will be focusing very much on Part 1 which is related to the Supplementary Order Papers that I have put forward. On behalf of New Zealand First there are two separate Supplementary Order Papers although they have been put into one paper and our support for this bill will depend on the support that we get for those Supplementary Order Papers.The first thing that we have to mention here is that the evidence of child abuse in New Zealand is tragic. I acknowledge the speech by the Minister talking about child abuse. Yes there are a lot of those cases and many of those involve children who have been abused by those who are working with the children either on a voluntary basis or as paid workers indirectly and on a regular basis. These abuses come in many forms. There is physical abuse mental illness emotional stress developmental instability and neglect. Then there is the tragic issue of hungry children. I know that the Minister did not want to acknowledge that earlier on. All these disadvantages paint a picture of horrific environments for all—absolutely horrific.It is ironic though to think that although the Government has championed this bill it is the same Government that is responsible for the so-called economic policy that has contributed to poverty in this country. Many have struggled due to financial issues. They have struggled due to financial issues. The bill aims to reduce the risk of harm to children by requiring people employed or engaged in work that involves regular or overnight contact with children to be screened. These people ought to be screened for any safety concerns that may pose or will pose severe issues for our young children.I worked in the Department of Corrections. I have seen so many people imprisoned because they were involved in abuse cases involving children. It is not a very interesting topic to discuss. But I know that most people actually ignore the fact that we have grassroots knowledge and experience in these cases. I have been the chair of a board of trustees for 19 years at a Catholic school. I am familiar with the situation here. I have also been in charge of early childhood education where our local community played an important role in the programme.At the Social Services Committee I asked questions about security and safety checks on volunteers who are engaged with children on a regular basis. I was astounded with the response I received to my question. One answer said that some groups were not comfortable with my amendment because it could discourage much-needed volunteers from working at schools clubs churches and early childhood education centres. I hear that quite a lot. The other answer was that we must also acknowledge how much non-profit organisations working with children rely on volunteers. Yes I acknowledge that too. We are aware that without volunteers many will struggle. I acknowledge that volunteers do fantastic work for many groups. However it was an interesting response and one that was given casually without any serious thought. I believe that most peoplewho are genuine about the service that they provide for our young children will be supportive of security background checks because they will have an appreciation that children will be safer. It is not easy coming from a community where our children are subjected to these kinds of situations. It is a safety net for our tamaiti and our fanau.The issue of alcohol and drug abuse in New Zealand is worsening and often children are affected by it. Drugs like legal highs highlight major issues in our country. Of course children are often the victims at the end of the day. In recent months legal highs have become the new evil that the parents of some children or even the carers for children have been taking and they have ignored the welfare of the children whom they were in charge of. There are more people changing the types of drugs that they do take. A lot of those who do take these drugs become easily annoyed impatient and lack tolerance. That is why I have put forward a Supplementary Order Paper hoping that it will close the gap and provide a safety net looking at the loopholes that this bill currently has.Fear makes children suppressed. I have been in a position where some children in a family were too scared to speak up because some of the people involved in the case happen to be family. For a lot of children who have been affected it is mainly by those who were under the influence of alcohol drugs or of course gambling most of the time. A new generation of young people in this country are getting the wrong message about how to behave around alcohol and drugs. Exposing young children to environments where drugs and alcohol are used excessively and irresponsibly can be considered a form of child abuse.My Supplementary Order Papers focus on ensuring that security checks can be carried out for volunteers on a regular basis. The first one Supplementary Order Paper 447 is about those who volunteer on a regular basis because volunteers often have connections to drug and alcohol abuse and more important sexual abuse. Those are the areas that we believe Parliament often ignores. Parliament often forgets to take them into consideration. I am asking the Minister and the people in this Committee to do something about this area. Let us have a look at how we can improve the safety of our children and reduce the risk associated with having them being connected with volunteers who have a history of alcohol or drug abuse and also have a history related to sexual violence.Police estimate that only 18 percent of domestic violence incidents are reported. That means 82 percent of unreported domestic violence incidents can never be addressed which could lead to severe cases. The second part of my Supplementary Order Paper 447 is about those who are paid workers not just by organisations but also probably by parents and other people. That refers to taxi drivers or bus drivers who often transport children to and from the organisation. They ought to be screened and they ought to be followed up to ensure that they are safe to have anything to do with our young children. Too often we read in the media or watch on television about these kinds of cases. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye.I should also point out that parents and caregivers who gamble away the futures of their children through Skycity and through pokie machines are the ones who are also in need of being made accountable. They ought to be responsible for the risks that they are causing to their children and to their fanau.Pasifika people have actually become one of the most at-risk ethnicities for developing compulsive gambling behaviour. By the fact that they are gambling so much they are spending the money that they should be spending on their children. Of course domestic and family violence is the result of a situation where financial literacy or debts become a problem within the family. We have seen it so many times where the children end up being the victims in those cases.So New Zealand First would really like the Committee to consider the Supplementary Order Papers that it has put forward. The first part of Supplementary Order Paper 447 is about protecting children from volunteers who work with children on a regular basis. The second part of Supplementary Order Paper 447 is about safety checks of those taxi drivers or bus drivers who often transport children to and from an organisation. Thank you.