Labour admits to record of failure on child support

It has taken Labour nine long years to acknowledge the child support system is not working, says National's Welfare spokeswoman, Judith Collins.

"Labour has sat by and let child support debt reach $1.2 billion and refused to take action against delinquent parents who skip the country to escape their obligations.

"It's no coincidence that only months out from a general election, Labour has had a sudden revelation that the system is not entirely fair. Any system must be equitable for both the custodial and the liable parent, but most importantly for the thousands of children who are effectively abandoned by irresponsible parents.

"Officials are now scrambling around at the 11th hour examining a vast array of options for a new formula, despite it being clear that the system was in need of an overhaul years ago.

"It is fairly obvious that aspects of child support law need to evolve with the times, but Labour has conveniently ignored that until now.

"It's about time some spine was injected into this very important issue."