4. Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What action has she taken to reduce family violence since becoming Minister?

Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) : I have a long list of actions that I would like to read out, but out of respect to the time constraints of the House I just say that yesterday Minister Turia, who has delegated responsibility for family violence, announced the E Tu Whānau Ora programme, and a few weeks ago I announced the First Response pilot in Auckland, amongst many other initiatives.

Hon Annette King: Can the Minister confirm that 33 women have been killed through family violence so far this year—double last year’s figures—and why are these statistics being withheld from the public by the Government; is it because it having said that family violence was a top priority, all the action so far this year has been to review, to reduce, or to stop services?

Hon PAULA BENNETT: Let me list more of those initiatives, because this is something that is absolutely important: new safety orders put in place by the police, the ability to respond proactively to protection order breaches, more front-line family violence specialists, $2 million a year for the new family violence Whānau Ora fund, and an additional $1 million going into the “It’s Not OK” campaign this year. I would say that this Government takes the issue of family violence very, very seriously.

Hon Annette King: Did she object to the removal of independent victim advocates in family violence courts, whose role was to assist victims of family violence, with the funding now going to the Whānau Ora programme; and what has been the reaction from Judge Peter Boshier, the Principal Family Court Judge, who said recently that such advocates are “vital ingredients in making sure things happen for victims”?

Hon PAULA BENNETT: Yes, Minister Turia has recently announced $2 million a year for the new family violence Whānau Ora fund that will go directly to those families who need it, and to those programmes that will make a difference for those families. The independent advocates in the courts were not actually in there; they were in a process. The money has been well-spent, and spent on family violence.

Hon Annette King: Why is the very successful “It’s Not OK” campaign against family violence being stopped in June next year and replaced with a campaign aimed at Māori whānau only; is it because the Government believes that family violence is a Māori-only problem; if so, what is the evidence she has to show that that is the case, when it is well-known that family violence affects all parts of our society?

Hon PAULA BENNETT: Victims are disproportionately Māori. In 2006 nearly 50 percent of hospital admissions because of family violence were Māori. If the victims are disproportionately Māori, should not the solution be, as well? That member should remember that the public care just as much about Māori children as they do about Pākehā ones.

Te Ururoa Flavell: Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou. Me pēhea e whakamimitihia e te pūtea whānau ora hōu ngā mahi tūkino i roto i ngā whānau Māori me ngā whānau Pasifika?

• [An interpretation in English was given to the House.]

[How will the newly established Whānau Ora fund reduce family violence in Māori and Pasifika communities?]

Hon PAULA BENNETT: The family violence Whānau Ora fund is part of the Māori and Pasifika programme of action for addressing family violence, which was launched by Minister Turia in August 2009. It is based on strengths, and focuses on strategies and solutions that encompass the whole whānau rather than just the perpetrators and victims.