Valuing Our Fathers

Palmerston North

Mihi.

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It's great to be here today amongst the Party faithful.

It will soon be a year since the election. And what a year. We've had many needless side-shows and distractions, and that's all they were. What we need to remember is that we have achieved a lot.

So, I'd like to talk about that, but firstly I'd like to tell you about one of the most important issues facing young New Zealanders.

Perceptions

When we mention young people, youth or teenagers, the image for many people unfortunately is an image of drunken, lay-about yobs.

Certainly, the media doesn't help that perception, but we all have to do our bit to make a difference. The old need to change their views about the young, and likewise the young need to be aware of the stereotypes we attach to older people.

On most measurement scales, today's youth are actually better off than their parents were a quarter of a century ago. They are less likely to drink or smoke, less likely to drive drunk, less likely to die at an early age, and more likely to stay longer in education and gain a qualification.

If we always choose to focus on the negative, what are we saying about our expectations of youth?

Clearly, many of our expectations focus on social adjustment issues and behaviours. Yet we hear time and again that governments need to do things differently; change this system or that. And, I believe we do. But there is a more fundamental issue and that is the role of the family and communities.

Fathers

Tomorrow is Father's Day, and as I thought about the purpose for having such a day I began to reflect on the fact that many fathers will not be celebrating parenthood.

In 1991 just over one-fifth of New Zealand families looking after a child of one year old were sole parent families. Between the age of one and four about a quarter of all children live in sole parent families.

Eighty-two percent of those sole parent families are headed by women.

Laurie O'Reilly, the Commissioner for Children, quotes figures that show that of 950,000 young people under 17 years of age, 230,000 are in benefit dependant families. Of these, 76% are sole parent families.

Fatherlessness could be the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. It has been described as the leading cause of declining child well-being in our society and the engine driving our most urgent social problems.

Frequently there is debate, even alarm, about specific social problems. Divorce, out-of-wedlock childbearing, poverty, youth violence, youth suicide, unsafe neighbourhoods, domestic violence. But in these discussions, we seldom acknowledge the underlying phenomenon that binds together these otherwise disparate issues: the flight of fathers from their children's lives.

In fact, we seem to go out of our way to avoid the connection between our most pressing social problems and the trend of fatherlessness - or at least a solid male role model.

If there is one point of agreement in the debate raging over fatherhood, it's that absent fathers can cause incredible damage. No one misses their fathers more than their sons. As dismayed citizens regard the violence and destruction by rampaging youths, the question becomes insistent: Where's Dad?

Not all absent fathers are actually missing from home. They may simply be missing from their children's lives because of job ambition, or because, when they are home, they're remote - the "behind the newspaper" syndrome. So, young males are saying, 'Dad doesn't want to know me', 'it's manly not to communicate'...

Boys who succumb to peer-group pressure are more likely to have weak or absent fathers.

The Commissioner for Children, Laurie O'Reilly has just launched a new programme called "Fathers Who Care: Partners in Parenting".

Sadly, as some of you may be aware, Laurie is not well. I'd like to pay tribute to Laurie's lifelong commitment to children. Not only is he committed to his own children, but to the development of all the children in New Zealand. He has been a strong advocate for children.

With his new programme, he has lit a torch in the search for good fathers and happy children. I intend to ensure that message is amplified, and will do all I can to help turn his dream into a reality because I believe that dream is also the dream of New Zealand children.

New Zealand is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Convention clearly lays out the rights and responsibilities of New Zealand children and young people.

Earlier this year we had to report to the United Nations on our compliance and progress in implementing the Convention. Generally we do well, but the United Nations was critical of our level of single-parent families. New Zealand has the second-highest percentage of single parent families in the industrialised world. The children in those families require additional assistance from their communities to ensure positive outcomes and access to the necessary opportunities.

Not having a father playing an active role in your life doesn't necessarily mean losing the physical presence of your Dad and having your parents stay together throughout your childhood is not necessarily the answer. What is needed is the influence, communication and special skills that fathers are able to teach - especially to young males.

We need fathers - but we need caring, nurturing and supportive fathers.

It seems that even in the case of divorce, if a good parental relationship is maintained the child will encounter fewer problems.

The development of a child can be needlessly affected if divorce is traumatic. And when this happens, the research suggests that a child is likely to have poorer school attainment and is less likely to enter tertiary education.

Add to that the fact that: behavioural problems are likely to be greater; Boys behave badly and girls become depressed.

In general, self esteem is lower.

Children move into adult behaviour earlier. They experience adolescent sexual relationships and parenthood more often. The quality of their relationship tends to be poorer and unemployment is more common.

That's quite a list. And don't those social concerns sound familiar? The disadvantage that faces a child living in a sole parent family seems to be immense.

So, let's all make an effort to follow Laurie's lead.

Our kids need their dads. And if it's unlikely that a potential dad will be on the scene - I would urge young women to be sure they use a condom!

New Zealand First

I'd now like to move on to a subject that I'm sure we all have a view on - the government and New Zealand First.

As a Party we have achieved a lot in a short time. We came from having extremely small representation in Parliament, to governing.

Many people suggest that we gave up our principles in going into Coalition.

Those who do have failed to grasp what MMP means. And the main culprits seem to be the media.

We are unlikely to see a complete and unified government voice under MMP. I think it unlikely for two parties to come together and all of a sudden agree on everything. If that was the case, they wouldn't be two parties.

In going in to Government we have made an effort to promote as many of our policies as possible. We haven't forsaken what we stood for at the election.

What we have done is create the best possible deal to ensure that as many of our policies as possible are actually put in to practice.

Frankly, I'd rather have some of our policies introduced than be faced with the bleak prospect of lounging impotent on the opposition benches.

That's where Labour, Alliance and ACT now stand - impotent and in opposition.

New Zealand First has been successful.

No, we haven't implemented our manifesto to the full, but the Coalition Agreement has outlined how we will tackle a great deal of our election promises.

That's MMP.

Let's start to look at the realities of working under MMP, and begin to realise that we have made a difference.

So, what have we achieved?

an outstanding budget delivering $5 billion over three years of new spending on things close to New Zealand First's heart: health, education, employment and crime prevention
removal of income and asset testing for older people in hospital care
free child health care
removal of the surcharge
200 extra police in 1997/1998
abolition of Regional Health Authorities
a new cardiac unit for Christchurch
expenditure on youth at risk
important policy developments in ACC
development of corporate environmental reporting
And more.

No one can say we've been idle.

While the focus has been on perk-busters and opposition games, the real picture has been missed.

We should be celebrating our achievements.

We should be selling what we've done much more vigorously.

We're in government to govern.

We are governing.

We are achieving.

You should be proud of our achievements.

In conclusion, we're doing a good job of governing - we're just not doing a good job of telling people about it.

Tomorrow, we should all celebrate our dads - and if we have the good fortune of seeing them - we should tell them how much we value them.

ENDS