7. Hon TARIANA TURIA (Co-Leader—Māori Party) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
What specific interventions will she be making to address the fact that 27 percent of Māori children live in poverty, and does she believe this is a fair go for Māori children?
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
I believe in a fair go for all children. The 27 percent Māori child poverty figure quoted by the member is in fact for 2004. Since then, and using the same measure, overall child poverty has decreased by one-third. Labour is committed to ensuring these trends continue, through measures such as annual CPI benefit adjustments, an improved number of people in paid work, additional money on Tāmariki Ora services, and higher participation in tertiary education.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
Does this Government have a new policy platform that really supports our children to achieve their potential and be healthy contributing citizens, and can she tell the House what those new policies are for the 150,000 children who are not benefiting from any Government policies to date?
I do not know a single child in New Zealand who has not benefited in one way or another from the Labour-led Government’s policies over the last 9 years.
Sue MoroneyA critical factor in a family’s balance sheet is the money it spends on accessing health services. We have ensured that we have improved the health of young New Zealanders by strengthening child and adolescent oral health services, expanding Well Child checks, and creating a universal new-born hearing screening programme. Fifty-seven thousand children are participating in the Fruit in Schools programme, we have invested an additional $2.2 billion into primary healthcare, focusing on health promotion and getting ahead of chronic diseases, lowered doctors’ fees, and reducing the cost of most medicine. We now have 88 percent of Māori children under 6 receiving free standard general practitioner consultations.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
Tēnā koe. When will the Government set national targets to ensure that progress can be measured to adopt a sustained coordinated plan of action to end child poverty in New Zealand, as urged by the Child Poverty Action Group?
For the first time ever in New Zealand’s history our Government has a publicly accountable document called the Social Report, which is published every year with consistent data so we can accurately measure and debate the success or otherwise of initiatives in these areas.
Hon Tariana Turia Link to this
Does the Minister agree with the definition from the rangatahi of Streets Ahead 237 of Porirua that poverty is the lack of something to make one’s life better; and what action will she take by the year 2020 to make life better for specific population groups by developing measurable targets to eliminate child poverty for Māori and Pasifika children in migrant and refugee families, children with disabilities, and children in foster care?
There is a clear definition of poverty. There are two options for that and both are held accountable by this Government in terms of public data. One of them is in the Social Report and others are used in other data. We want to ensure that we have consistent tracking of comparable data to ensure that the targets we set in eliminating child poverty in New Zealand are met.