United Future leader Peter Dunne said on Sunday he would back National after the election. Photo / Mark Mitchell
United Future has started listing the social policies it wants a National-led government to introduce.
Party leader Peter Dunne announced on Sunday he would back National after the election, under a deal that assures him of a ministerial position.
He is at present Minister of Revenue under Labour,
but he has turned his back on the party and says National is better placed to deliver the stability and direction New Zealand needs.
United Future's only other MP, Judy Turner, said today the intention was to "knock the rough edges" off National.
"National is often regarded as cold-hearted, tight-fisted and downright mean when it comes to dealing with the less well off," she said.
"It will be United Future's job to ensure that help and resources get to those in greatest need and with as little bureaucratic interference as possible."
Ms Turner said an example was grandparents looking after grandchildren because the parents were too ill or drug-addicted to do the job.
"These people are under incredible financial and physical pressure, yet they receive less help from the state than foster parents," she said.
"We also want to see balance brought back into the Family Court so that shared parenting is the default position where both parents indicate they want to play a part in raising their children."
The party also wants DNA testing to be allowed so that fathers who contribute to family support arrangements can be certain they are supporting their own children.
It also wants pay parity between nurses employed by district health boards and those employed in resthomes.
Ms Turned said those were just some of the areas her party would work on.
- NZPA
