For a politician who has shown he has more lives than a cat when it comes to surviving elections and changes of Government, United Future leader Peter Dunne showed an uncharacteristic judgement lapse yesterday.
The architect of the Families Commission decided to release policy wanting to make families as important as the economy.
New Zealand was paying lip service to the real needs of families, he said while calling for an annual report card on whether families were being helped or hurt by government policy.
"That needs to start by measuring the way policies impact on families with the same vigour that Treasury measures economic impacts of policy and law.
"It is just not happening for families in any meaningful way and when it was done, it was given very little weight in government thinking."
That needed to change, Mr Dunne said.
The establishment of the Families Commission was due to the confidence and supply agreement forged by United Future and the Labour-led government following the 2002 election.
The idea of the commission was to monitor government policy and advocate on behalf of New Zealand families.
Mr Dunne produced a score-card yesterday which showed very average results for some major indicators.
The cost of raising a child got a D grade, household income scored a B, housing affordability sneaked a pass at C minus along with paid parental leave.
Family violence got a D but access to healthcare and medicines was rated B minus.
Affordability of preschool child care, primary educational outcomes and work-life balance all scored B or B minus, but fathers in the lives of their children was C minus.
So, after about nine years of activity, the Families Commission does not appear to have done very much at all in lifting the standards, and Mr Dunne has been the one to highlight the failings.
Labour wants to scrap the commission and replace it with a Ministry for Children and a Minister for Children.
On yesterday's announcement, Labour has a case.
