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Hello. Recently my colleague Paula Bennett announced
a range of measures that the Government is taking to increase protection for New Zealand's
most vulnerable children. Many of us are all too familiar with the names
and stories of some of these children, including some who died at the hands of the very people
who should have protected them. There are many more stories of tragedy, and
misery that never make the news. Every year there are literally thousands of
cases of abuse, and neglect. Despairing as this situation is, ours is not
a Government of hand-wringers. We front up to the hard issues, and the plights
of some of these children make it essential that we do that.
Paula Bennett said that she thinks the most important work she will do as a Minister is
included in the Children's Action Plan, and I agree.
You can read more about our initiatives on the Children's Action Plan website but in
summary there are a few key measures that we think are vital.
One is that courts will be given new civil orders to place on adults who have a history
of serious convictions and/or who pose a high risk of abusing children. Those orders mean
that some people won't be allowed to live with children, or go to the places where children
gather. Another step is that when parents with a history
of the worst extremes of abuse have a new child, welfare workers won't have to wait
till something goes wrong before they assess that child's safety.
We'll reverse the burden of proof so those parents have to prove that their child is
going to be safe. On a different level, the heads of Health,
Education, Justice, the Police and the Ministry of Social Development will together have to
ensure they're improving the well-being of vulnerable children, and they'll be accountable
to Ministers on that. And we're going to introduce minimum standards
for screening and vetting of more than 370,000 people who actually work with kids, including
teachers and other school staff. There are more measures, too. We're taking
them because when our most vulnerable children can't look to the people around them to protect
them, then it's our job. And we are determined to make a difference.
GCSB Hello.
Some of the stories that have made headlines in recent months have been about spying, and
That's because it's only in open and free countries that you get to talk in public about
we at the same time have a duty to protect New Zealand citizens and their interests.
in terms of national security, very, very seriously. And I always will.
There has been a lot of scaremongering lately, and some people have just got their facts
completely wrong. So I want to reassure New Zealanders.
What we're doing is fixing up a law that Labour put through a decade ago around the Government
Communications Security Bureau, which had a lot of flaws in it.
We're making sure the new law is transparent and rigorous. It will have more safeguards
and more checks and balances. That will protect citizens against unwarranted
intrusion from the State, while allowing our security agencies to get on and protect Kiwis
from threats and dangers that I know to be real and ever-present.
I am confident that we have the balance right, and that the security of our citizens will
be enhanced because of it.