Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Border agencies should be stopping liable parents
Judith Collins
National Party Welfare Spokeswoman
18
September 2006
Border agencies should be stopping liable parents
People who owe child support money should not be able to go overseas till they pay up, says National's Welfare spokeswoman, Judith Collins.
She is commenting on the announcement of a scheme where people who have an arrest warrant in their name for owing $5,000 or more in unpaid fines will be stopped from leaving New Zealand.
"There is a huge problem of liable parents going overseas, mainly to Australia, to avoid paying child support, and stopping them at the border would be one way of halting that and forcing them to pay.
"Liable parents living in Australia now owe a staggering $282 million compared with $73 million in 2003.
"That is a quadrupling of the amount owed despite a wealth of promises from Labour that it would try harder to collect the outstanding debt.
"In total, liable parents owe more than $1.1 billion, and this would be one way of getting some of that money paid.
"We must do more, and one way would be to stop these people from leaving until they pay up.
"If they can do it for unpaid fines, they must be able to do it for unpaid child support."
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: Gordon Campbell On The Folly Of Making Apologies In A Social Vacuum.
Forest And Bird: Modernisation Of Conservation System Must Focus On Improving Conservation
NZCTU: Uniformed Defence Force Should Not Be Used As Strike Breakers
MetService: Damp Start To Canterbury Anniversary Weekend; Wet Start For Coldplay Fans In Auckland
RNZ: Senior Lawyers Call For Treaty Principles Bill To Be Abandoned
Lobby for Good: Small Business Owners, MPs Rally Together To Demand Transparency In Tauranga Marine Precinct Sale
VisAble: National Apology Marks Important Step For Disabled Community, But True Change Requires Lasting Action
