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Mr Speaker, I move that the Vulnerable Children Bill, the Children, Young Persons and Their Families (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill, and the KiwiSaver (Vulnerable Children) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

In this country, from the moment a child is born the Government is there to provide support – for them, their parents, and their wider family.

We have free education, and our schools are the envy of many countries.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

Introduction

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Acknowledgments

  • Diane Vivian, Chair and Founder
  • Geoff Lawson, CEO
  • The GRG Board
  • GRG Members

Introduction

It’s great to be with all of you today, at what is the beginning of a very exciting year ahead.

It’s going to be a pretty significant one for me personally.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

It’s a pleasure to be here this morning to open the SAS Users New Zealand conference.

We’re at a very exciting place at the moment.

The world of data analytics is new for a lot of people in Government, and just a little bit scary for some.

But the way I see it - by harnessing the skills analysts like you have when you look at information, we have the power to change - and save - lives. 

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

The Vulnerable Children omnibus Bill proposes two new Acts: the Vulnerable Children Act, and the Child Harm Prevention Orders Act.

It also amends the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 and the KiwiSaver Act 2006 and makes consequential amendments to a number of other Acts.

This Bill is about protecting vulnerable children, and putting that priority ahead of the needs of adults.

These changes are bold and by their nature, controversial.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

I think the most important work I will ever do as a Minister is the work contained in the Children’s Action Plan.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.

There are things non-government organisations can do that government just can’t.

NGOs move faster and get alongside families and communities in a way Government can’t.

They often know their communities best.

The Government still has a role to play, by providing a framework, direction and support

Sometimes though, the best thing the Government can do is get out of the way

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Thank you Prime Minister for your introduction, and thank you also to Peter Clare and Westpac for hosting this event.

It’s great to see you all here, especially those from the Phobic Trust, Youthline, and ZEAL, whose innovative social media projects I’ll be talking about tonight.

It’s also great to see people here from organisations working with young people day in, day out. Thank you for coming.

I’m excited by the Social Media Innovations Fund.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

Introduction

Take care of our children, take care of what they hear, take care of what they see, take care of what they feel.

For how the children grow, so will be the shape of Aotearoa.

The work I introduce today is for the broken and the neglected, for those children that need us most as parents, neighbours, practitioners, politicians, and carers and as New Zealanders.

To honour Dame Whina Cooper's words; this is a new way of caring for our most vulnerable children.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development
  • Youth Affairs

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

I would like to acknowledge the Dean of Medicine Sunny Collins and Otago University Wellington for generously hosting us this evening and the Health and Disability Panel for their advice and expertise.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Good afternoon.

I would like to acknowledge some of those people who have been instrumental in this agreement being forged between Ngapuhi and Child, Youth and Family.

From Ngapuhi can I acknowledge the Chairman, Sonny Tau and Chief Executive, George Riley. Here today from Child, Youth and Family can I also acknowledge Deputy Chief Executive, Bernadine Mackenzie and General Manager of Operations, Marama Edwards.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development
  • Youth Affairs

The welfare system has not been working as it could. It has allowed too many to become trapped in an intergenerational cycle of dependence.

There are more than 317,000 people on welfare right now. Add to that the 220,000 children living in welfare dependent homes and there are more than half a million New Zealanders reliant on welfare in any given week.

This Government is transforming the welfare system into one that is modern, active and responsible because currently it is passive, out of date and quite frankly it is failing us.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development
  • Youth Affairs

It is a pleasure to be here to speak to you all.

I hope you have had a successful conference to date and that you have shared ideas, problems and solutions.

I admire the work you do in our communities. There are moments in my job when I sincerely feel the pull to be working at the grass roots level.

But we all have our roles to play and thank you for the important role you play.

They say that this is the worst time to be speaking to a conference - after lunch, before an audience with full tummies who might nod off.

  • Paula Bennett
  • Youth Affairs
  • Social Development

 

 

The welfare system is failing New Zealanders.

 

It has created a cycle of dependency that has 12 percent of working age New Zealanders on benefits, directly affecting more than 220,000 children.

 

The system, I say, is failing them.

 

And it is out of step with today’s needs because times have changed.

 

Today we have teenagers on welfare who have been given a weekly sum of money and just left to get on with it.

 

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development

E nga mana, e nga reo, e te iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you all. It’s great to be here.

Today I’d like to spend a bit of time talking about:

•    our current welfare system
•    welfare reform
•    what it means for people with disabilities

Our welfare system is failing you. And worse, it is failing the people you work with.
 

  • Paula Bennett
  • Social Development