Jacinda Ardern
Children’s Spokesperson

17 June 2014

Ticking all the right boxes

Tick for Kids, a campaign to encourage political parties to put children at the centre of their decision-making, has the full backing of the Labour Party which has pledged to do exactly that, its Children’s spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.

“As clichéd as it might sound, our kids really are our future – it’s a no brainer that their health and wellbeing should be at the heart of any government policy and that government takes a lead role in improving outcomes for every Kiwi kid.

“We know that the early years of a child’s life are the most important, yet we still have 285,000 children living in poverty, high rates of rheumatic fever and far too many kids living in unhealthy cold and damp homes.

“Labour’s policies are about providing children with the opportunities they need to thrive, by boosting support for parents and addressing issues such as inequality.

“We want our kids to be living in warm dry homes and we’ll introduce a WOF for private rentals to make sure that happens.

“We’ll provide support for new parents through our Best Start payment, and by extending paid parental leave, and we’ll bump up the number of hours of free early childhood and put food into our low decile schools.

“Labour will also create a Ministry and Minister for Children, putting our kids front and centre of everything we do.

“Tick for Kids is something all Kiwis can be involved in and it has Labour’s full support.”

ENDS

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