Friday, 25 November 2005

Dunne corrects Collins - again

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne expressed disappointment tonight that National's social welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins had succumbed again to the cheap and easy option of misrepresenting the Government's reforms on child support payments.

"Mrs Collins, in her speech in the House yesterday on the Child Support Amendment Bill, readily acknowledged that it was a legitimate effort to recover some of the more than one billion dollars owed to New Zealand children whose parents have left them," said Mr Dunne.

"Clearly, today she has received advice from her political minders that she should attack the government's proposals, even though she agrees with them.

"I am disappointed that Mrs Collins prefers to sacrifice the interests of New Zealand's abandoned children for her own petty political ambitions.

"She well knows that if, as she alleges, the Government forgives more than half a billion dollars of penalty payments from liable parents, then that would mean that every single one of New Zealand's liable parents has agreed to a payment schedule of their obligations and furthermore that they would maintain those payments over a lengthy period.

"In effect, New Zealand children would receive the full amount of almost half a billion dollars of the child support owed to them.

"I ask Mrs Collins: what is wrong with that?"

Mr Dunne said he well understood the need for Opposition parties to disagree, but it should not be at the expense of vulnerable New Zealand children and rational thought.

ENDS

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