Jacinda Ardern
Spokesperson for Children

30 October 2013

Child poverty plan would see Families Commission axed

Labour will scrap the Families Commission to prioritise work on reducing child poverty, its Children’s spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.

“The National Government has made it clear it is not interested in tackling child poverty.

“Not only has it refused to look into measuring and determining how widespread the problem is, it seems content to ignore the rest of the world when it comes to best practice around child poverty by doing exactly that.

“The Children’s Commissioner is so concerned he has taken it on himself – with financial help from a charitable trust - to publish his own figures.

“That says it all – rather than taking responsibility for the problem Paula Bennett and her colleagues are having the work they should be doing done for them through charitable dollars.

“Knowing how many children are in poverty should be core Government business. Doing something about it should be a Government priority.

“Labour is prepared to tackle this head on. We will do away with the Families Commission and focus funding on an independent Children’s Commissioner. We will also implement a plan to measure and set targets to reduce child poverty that would be backed up by legislation, and report on progress every budget.

“The Government has the potential to improve the childhood of thousands of Kiwi kids living in poverty.

“Unfortunately it has chosen not to.”

ENDS

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