Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises — Families Commission

I do want to talk about the Families Commission because the Government has made some moves to collapse the Families Commission and the Children’s Commission together. One would think that the Opposition might have some concerns about that, but in fact what we are more concerned about is the lack of independence being shown by the Families Commissioner, under this Government. After that Families Commissioner was appointed by the Minister, Paula Bennett, suddenly we had a Families Commissioner, Mr Carl Davidson, who in one press interview rendered the Families Commission absolutely irrelevant by declaring that he was going to revoke the Families Commission’s position on extending paid parental leave. This was from the Families Commissioner—the man who is supposed to be putting families at the heart of what he advocates for. When it came to being asked a question about extending paid parental leave, on the back of a bill that had been drawn out in my name to do exactly that, because the Government was not prepared to back extending paid parental leave, suddenly we had a Families Commissioner who baulked at it also. He said, and I am going to quote him: “I mean, wouldn’t it be great if none of us had to go to work and we could just stay at home and get paid for it.”

That was from the so-called independent Families Commissioner, under this Government, who in one fell swoop I think offended pretty much every woman in the country, who knows that staying at home and looking after children actually is work. He pretty much managed to make his whole commission irrelevant to families, in one statement, all because he is working for a Government that insists that the Families Commissioner takes a position that they would want to favour. That is not the role that we should have for the independent Families Commission. The role we should have is that it should be a challenging role of the Government. It should be a role where the commissioner is prepared to stand up and fight for what families want and what families need. If that commissioner or this Government were in touch at all with the stress on working families, then they would know that extending paid parental leave is indeed something that would make a big difference to family life. At the moment, families do not get any financial support after their baby is 14 weeks old. That means that many parents are going back to work for financial reasons before they really want to and before their family is settled into the new routine.

In 2007 the Families Commission actually did a very comprehensive evidence and research-based report, led by Dr Rajen Prasad at the time, and it was called It’s about time. In that research and evidence-based report they determined that in fact paid parental leave should be extended to 12 months. Suddenly, in the year 2012, under this Government, we have the Families Commissioner feeling that he needs to say that that no longer is a priority for his commission.

But it is not the first time. He is not alone in that, actually, because strangely enough I had the opportunity to talk to the Children’s Commissioner, also appointed by the Minister, Paula Bennett, recently. He is prevaricating, also, on the issue of extending paid parental leave. I have to pose the question to this House. What is the common denominator here? Both the Children’s Commissioner and the Families Commissioner are supposed to be independent. Those two entities were designed and set up to be independent, to actually push the boundaries within the Government, on behalf of children and on behalf of families. Well, that now has to be the sole domain of the Labour Party, because the Families Commissioner and the Children’s Commissioner are not prepared to do it in the face of that Government. The Labour Opposition is prepared to stand up for children and for families. We are at least prepared to put families and children at the centre of what we are pushing for and we will continue to perform that role, even if those commissioners will not, under the current direction of the Government. That means that there will no longer be a Families Commissioner.

It is a pleasure to rise and speak to this debate on Crown entities and State enterprises. As a Crown entity, the Families Commission is about to undergo a transformation. The reason why it will be transformed is that this Government believes in better public services. In turbulent times, this John Key - led Government is determined to take tough but necessary steps to manage our debt, build a competitive economy, and deliver on better Government services. New Zealanders know this, and they know it because they have seen 600 more front-line police, they have seen 2,000 more nurses, and they have seen 12,000 more tertiary education places.

💬 Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I know we have had a pretty broad-ranging debate, but that just goes beyond the pale, I think.

The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I will just remind the member that we are actually on the Families Commission, so come back to that.

Recognising this after the election, our confidence and supply agreement with United Future promised this positive change: “The Families Commission will have two broad functions—the existing functions will be headed by a single Commissioner, and new monitoring, evaluation and research functions to drive quality services for families. In addition a Families Status Report will be developed to measure how New Zealand families are getting on, and government will re-direct $4m over four years to fund extra parenting programmes and relationship education in secondary schools.”

So what does this mean? Well, we are restructuring the commission, and this will see its core activities streamlined through a leaner, more focused structure. It will be headed by a single commissioner, down from the original seven. That is right: less bureaucracy in one fell swoop. However, it will be governed by a board that will include Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, as well as persons from the public sector and philanthropic and business representatives. This is about credible community input into the direction of an important entity.

The commission will also take a new role, providing for independent monitoring—that is right, independence—evaluation, and research to measure the effectiveness of initiatives across the social sector. Funding will be reduced from $32 million over 4 years to $28 million. This will be done primarily by setting up the new Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit.

If we are going to make a difference in our communities for our families who are struggling, we need to be able to invest in interventions that we know will work. The body of evidence will allow policy makers, service providers, and anyone wanting to invest in those social services to make more informed decisions. It is about having evidence-based interventions that produce better long-term outcomes—something the Labour Government of the 2000s clearly did not achieve through the Families Commission. It is about our families, it is about our communities, and ultimately it is about the kids in our country.

So financially, what does it mean? Well, it means we are going to prioritise funds into areas that actually matter to New Zealanders: $4 million into the parenting programmes, relationship education, and youth mental health initiatives—programmes that have actually made a difference to New Zealanders in need. I have talked about the $14 million that will be assigned to the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit, and it will also have $1.8 million to take over the responsibility for the longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand.

In summary, then, the Families Commission will remain an autonomous Crown entity.

💬 Sue Moroney: Ha!

That is right, Mrs Moroney—an autonomous Crown entity. This is significant change for the commission in terms of its structural arrangements, its work programme, its capability requirements, and its size. The commission will continue to work on issues that are important for families, just within a leaner, more focused structure. There will be an inter-agency team from the Ministry of Social Development, the State Services Commission, and the Families Commission that will oversee this transition. These changes will be due to be implemented by 1 January 2013. Finally, may I say that—

Report noted.

New Zealand Antarctic Institute