Stewart Barbara: New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 16 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10207. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First): I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to oppose the third reading of this bill the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2). It is with great disappointment that we do so. We had thought that there were some reasonable parts in this bill when we first saw it but on closer inspection we found that there were not.This bill in itself is a total contradiction. On the surface it looks good but it is not even nearly right. It is not near enough; it is so far out that it is absolutely terrible. I feel very sorry for all of those people who had such high hopes. We all know that near enough is not good enough and this bill shows that totally. New Zealand First has always said that we recognise the right of every New Zealander to equality of opportunity. We know that in many cases the real handicap to full participation in society for people with disabilities is not the disability itself but environmental barriers ill-informed attitudes and inadequate support services and this bill smacks of all of the above.The legislation is a lost opportunity. The fairness in this legislation is an illusion. It is a little bit like smoke and mirrors. Caring is a very important issue in the disability sector and we were looking forward to seeing this issue finally settled. It has been around on the agenda for many many years and we wanted a fair solution. We think it is a sad day for families providing care for their loved ones. It is disrespectful to the carers and to our disabled community. I know of families who were initially quite excited when they heard about this bill but it severely limits the rates that carers can bepaid for the very important job they do. What they have ended up with as theDominion Posthas said is a “half-baked” scheme with a start date in October and there is nothing really specific to work out what families are going to get. The opportunity was there to do more but actually nothing has been done and now nothing can be done.The bottom line is that the Government has not got this legislation right and I think that was shown by the number of amendments that the Hon Ruth Dyson actually placed on the Table. Unfortunately the Hon Ruth Dyson did not get the opportunity to even discuss those amendments which is something that usually happens in this House. The fact that the regulatory impact statement had so many pages that were blanked or in this case blacked out is not the regular practice of this House and definitely does not reassure anyone—especially not the Opposition—that what we are looking at is all of the facts on this particular issue. I know that the Government members themselves if the same situation was presented to them when they were on this side of the House would have screamed loud and long. This is not the usual practice we have to bring legislation into the House. It is just amazing to us on this side of the House that the regulatory impact statement was tabled only this morning and basically it has been of little use to anyone—anyone at all.The second issue that is very perturbing about this particular piece of legislation is that the democratic process has been totally ignored. The process for this legislation needed to be fair and just. The bill needed to go through all of the stages and have public input and have consumer input as well—something that has not been done. We in New Zealand First would have liked to see the Parliament—all of the Parliament—support this particular bill.Disability is an issue that we all feel very strongly about and we want the best for carers and for their family members. It is a very complex issue and the bill did not deserve to be pushed through this House under urgency. The bill needed to go to a select committee. The Health Committee is a good committee for a bill like this to go to so that people who are affected by the bill could have actually had some input. We would have liked to hear from family carers. We would have liked to hear from people who are directly affected by this bill. We know that family carers play a very important role in caring for their disabled family members. The focus should have been on ensuring that the outcome was positive for carers and for their loved ones. The high threshold that is required for this payment is not really fair in this case.The third big negative is that carers will be paid less than the minimum wage when one works it out which is totally unfair. We would always stand up for people who are paid less than the minimum wage. Spouses and their partners are excluded which presents challenges. We know that people get very protective about the people whom they look after and they do not like others to look after them. Those aspects of life that we all hold precious such as privacy do need to be respected. Will $14365 per carer really meet their needs in today’s day and age? I do not really think so.The measures that are actually proposed by this bill are totally inadequate. They are not enough. Carers are hard-working. They are compassionate people working in a very demanding role. Quite often—very often in fact—they get no thanks for the roles that they are carrying out. It is not an easy role to be a carer. You have to provide a great service 24/7. The carers actually give up every aspect of their lives. I know of one couple who have got a 24-year-old disabled daughter. The father works from home has not got a job out in the community and to survive the mother goes out at night and works during the night hours. It is not easy.Then we read in the general policy statement that in amending the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 the bill allows the Government to “reduce the on-going litigation risks while allowing the Government to implement policies of payingfamily carers …” where it wishes to do so—where it wishes to do so. I think that is a real cheek a real hit in the face for those families who are working so hard and doing such a great job for their disabled family members.New Zealand First cannot support this bill. We would have liked to but we feel that disabled people and their families have been really short-changed in this instance.