Questions for Oral Answer

TUESDAY, 16 JULY 2019 The Speaker took the Chair at 11.15 a.m. KARAKIA TE MANA TIAKIWAI (Youth MP for Hon Peeni Henare): Me īnoi tātou. He hōnore, he kōroria, he maungārongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa. Hāngai Te Atua hei ngākau hou ki roto ki tēnā, ki tēnā o mātou. Whakatōngia tō Wairua Tapu hei āwhina, hei tohutohu i ō mātou hei ako hoki i ngā kupu i roto i tēnei wānanga. Āmine. [We now pray. Honour, glory and peace on the land, may goodwill come to all people. May God find a place in each of our hearts. May the Holy Spirit work through us and be a guiding light during this session. Amen.] ORAL QUESTIONS QUESTIONS TO MINISTERS SPEAKER: Members, I will remind you that the rules for questions to Ministers are set out in the Youth Parliament Standing Orders 21 to 25. Question No. 1—Child Poverty Reduction 1. JACK BUCHAN (Youth MP for Hon Dr David Clark) to the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction: Will the Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018 reduce the 2.5 percent increase over the last decade of children living in households defined as living in poverty; if so, how? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Minister for Child Poverty Reduction): I thank the member for the question. The member is correct that, over the past decade, we have seen an increase in the before-housing-cost measure of child poverty—those families who are living on 50 percent or less of median income before housing costs. The child poverty legislation that this House passed at the end of last year, of course, doesn’t in itself deliver child poverty reductions but does require the Government to set targets to do so, and they’ve been transparent about the progress that’s been made. The member asks what has been done to reach the targets, and I can advise the member that, yes, we are on track to get reductions actually well above what the member has outlined, and those initiatives include things like increases to the family tax credit, the winter energy payment, the Best Start payment, all of which has culminated in the 2019 Budget of projected reductions in child poverty of between 50,000 and 74,000 children. So not only are we on track to meet the reductions you’re talking about but we are on track to halve child poverty within the next decade. JORDAN LAPISH (Youth MP for Hon Paula Bennett): If child poverty reduction targets are not met, what further action will the Government take to address child poverty? Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again, I thank the member for the question. I think one of the things that’s so important about the child poverty laws that we pass in this House is that, regardless of any future Government’s action or inaction, there will be transparent and available information for the public and for this House to be able to see the progress that’s been made. Because of that, in the last Budget, there was a document that demonstrated that we are actually on track. So I don’t anticipate being in the position that the member describes. We set a goal to reduce child poverty in both three-yearly and 10-yearly targets and, as I said in my last answer, we’re on track to meet those, but the process of looking at those projections, reporting on our targets, and holding ourselves to account means that when we come to Budget time, we are now setting out an agenda that shows clearly to the public whether or not we are meeting our own expectations. I am very pleased to tell the House that we are. Question No. 2—Climate Change 2. FALE’AKA BLOOMFIELD (Youth MP for Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern) to the Minister for Climate Change: Does the Minister plan to include tikanga Māori and indigenous practices in the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill; if so, how? 1 Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): In response to the first part of the question, yes, we do. In response to the second part of the question, the bill includes specific requirements designed to ensure that Māori rights and interests are considered as policy is developed and decisions are made under the bill. Iwi and Māori representative organisations will be asked to nominate members of the Climate Change Commission. When recommending the appointment of commissioners, the Minister must consider the need for skills, experience, expertise, and innovative approaches to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Te Ao Māori, including tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and Māori economic activity. The emissions reduction plan will include a strategy to recognise and mitigate the effects and impacts on iwi and Māori, and that requires consultation. The effects of climate change on iwi and Māori must be considered when preparing the national adaptation plan, and I have also asked the Environment Committee to consider whether the bill adequately addresses the Crown’s duties under Te Tiriti and to consult and engage with iwi Māori on that. COCO KING (Youth MP for Jenny Marcroft): What recent reports, if any, has the Minister seen regarding applications of tikanga Māori and indigenous practices when it comes to climate change? Hon JAMES SHAW: There have actually been a number of iwi organisations that have started doing their own work on climate change mitigation and adaptation using mātauranga Māori techniques, and I have visited some of those, particularly in Rotorua, and taken a look at some of what they have done. Those iwi organisations have actually supplied that information to the Government, to the Ministry for the Environment, as part of our consideration for how we shape the bill. I would say that it has had a material impact on the design of the legislation as it stands. Question No. 3—Climate Change 3. ANNA MANNING (Youth MP for Hon Anne Tolley) to the Minister for Climate Change: What plans, if any, does the Government have to help towns and cities prepare, cope, and co-exist with rising sea levels and increased risk of natural disasters for our coastal communities? Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): I thank the member for her question. The Government is committed to taking strong action to increase our resilience to the effects of climate change and has a busy work programme under way. The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, also known as the zero carbon bill, requires a national climate change risk assessment every six years. This will enable us to identify and assess climate risks and respond to them through a national adaptation plan. We’ve also provided guidance for local councils on coastal hazards, sea-level rise, and adapting to climate change. A central and local government work programme has been commissioned to consider questions of funding and financing natural hazard risk management and climate change adaptation, and that’ll help to ensure that the costs of adaptation are shared fairly between central and local government, banks and insurers, communities, and the private sector. IRIS TARAMAI (Youth MP for Hon Megan Woods): On a global level, what, if any, plans does the Government have in place to prevent climate change from having a greater impact on our corner of the world? Hon JAMES SHAW: When we refer to our corner of the world, usually we interpret that as being the Pacific, and what we know is that sea-level rise is actually occurring disproportionately, particularly in the western Pacific. That’s because heat is trapped in the oceans of the western Pacific, which, of course, expands what is already a rising sea level. The member may have seen photographs of people in places like Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, and so on, standing up to their knees and waist levels in oceans that have risen on land that they used to work and live and play on. We stand with our Pacific Island partner countries as part of the Pacific ourselves, and we are working extremely hard, through the mechanism of the United Nations’ climate change system, to try and make sure that every country in the world that has signed up to the Paris Agreement—and those that haven’t—are doing what they say that they are committed to under the terms of that agreement. 2 Question No. 4—Education 4. KATIE DONALD (Youth MP for Hon Louise Upston) to the Minister of Education: What steps is the Government taking, if any, to ensure young people have adequate opportunities for hands-on learning and education outside the classroom that is not restricted by health and safety regulations? Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I thank the member for her question. I think it’s important to note, though, that it’s not an either/or situation, and that, in fact, we still want young people who are participating in education outside the classroom to be doing so in a way that protects their health, safety, and wellbeing. We have had examples in New Zealand’s history where people have gone on school trips, for example, and either not come home or not come home in one piece, and we don’t want that to be the case, so it’s important that health and safety is respected in all learning that takes place outside the classroom. That’s one of the reasons why the Ministry of Education has put together some really good guidelines that schools can follow when they’re organising fieldtrips, camps, and other experiences outside the classroom, because they are a really important part of the learning process.

Load more