The Government's Child Poverty Reduction Bill has won the bi-partisan support of both major parties with National coming out in favour.
Opposition leader Simon Bridges says his party made "important changes" that "improved" the Bill. He says this will result in the Government applying National's social investment approach.
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"National's pioneering approach to solving social issues will be adopted," he says.
"Under the changes the Government must take into account the principles of early intervention and evidence-informed policy when making decisions on actions to address child poverty.
"This is an acknowledgement that evidence-based policies are an important way to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children, and simply throwing money at a problem is not enough."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the consultation process for the Bill has led to "important enhancements".
"It's important to the long-term welfare of our children that this Bill is enduring and survives changes of Government," she says.
"I thank the National Party for their amendments and their support of our Bill."
National's changes were:
- Reporting annually on one or more 'child poverty related indicators' related to the broader causes and consequences of child poverty
- Having regard to principles of early intervention and evidence-informed policy when developing the Strategy
- Setting out how the Government intends to evaluate the effectiveness of policies included in the Strategy
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