And her leader, David Seymour agrees with her, saying too many children were being born into poverty.

The Spinoff (an online magazine) followed up on this story by posting a list of 25 people ACT thinks should not have been born.

Houlbrooke was reacting to the announcement of the Labour Party's $60-a-week baby bonus policy.

On her Facebook page she said Labour's policy of paying people to have babies encourages them to grow their families when they're not properly mature or financially prepared.

Her post generated a vitriolic response. Police are making enquiries after she received a message saying she needed "the bashing or a bullet"

Houlbrooke declined to confirm whether the complaint had been laid by her, citing ACT health and safety policies.

She said she'd had no contact with police and that the message in question was the only negative response directed at her.

Speaking RNZ's Morning Report, Houlbrooke clarified her position.

"It's not to say people on low incomes can't have children.

"Plenty of them make a very good fist of it.

"And they do that because they've got prospects and a plan."

That included being in a stable relationship or having strong family connections and stable housing.

She said ACT believed giving handouts increased dependency, so it was not fixing the root of the problem.

"What happens when the handout runs out after three years is you still have a child living in a family who cannot afford to meet its needs."

In her own case, she put off having children until she could afford it, at the age of 27.

"I have many friends who have put off having children until their late 30s, early 40s and they've done it successfully," she said.

"There's no rush to have children at an early age."

Source

• Facebook
• Newhub
• RNZ
• Image: Stuff

The Government has given the green light to piloting social impact bonds in New Zealand.

Social impact bonds are a way for non government entities to partner in delivering social outcomes - and be rewarded by Government.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says social impact bonds are a consistent fit with the Government's wider social investment approach, which aims to better understand the drivers and risks of social dysfunction.

In a press release Labour's Health spokeswoman, Annette King, says the Government is using some of the most vulnerable Kiwis as guinea pigs against official advice and in the absence of international evidence that its ‘experiment' will achieve the desired results.

This is how social impact bonds work:

1. The Government contracts out some social services work with set timelines and agreed performance targets attached to those services.
2. A non-government organisation will then provide the services.
3. It does so through using money put up by investors.
4. If the agreed performance targets for the services are met, the Government will then pay back the investors their principal on the bond, and a percentage return.

Social bonds have been promoted by the right-wing think-tank The New Zealand Initiative

The New Zealand Initiative has released a report analysing overseas examples of the use of social impact bonds and looking at the application of social impact bonds in New Zealand.

The report warned that because no bonds had yet reached their full term overseas, their success had yet to be established.

It also warned that a number of challenges would have to be overcome to increase the chances of success in New Zealand.

It listed the challenges as:

• The relative immaturity of the social finance and investment market compared with countries like the United Kingdom
• The complexity of initiating the bonds, potentially deterring would-be participants
• Political risks such as change of government, a change of policy, and overly bureaucratic processes.

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• nzinitiative.org.nz
• Image: nzinitiative.org.nz