Ngaro AlfredHon ALFRED NGARO (National): I've got a lot of respect for the previous speaker the Hon Peeni Henare because he's full of passion when he speaks. But for all the passion in the world this can't hide the truth. So let's talk about the truth about why we are here today. We are here today not just because of the passion that's been shared on the other side but because of a mistake that has been made. Let's talk about that mistake. It was the Social Security Legislation Rewrite Bill of last year for which by the way all the work had already been done by a National Government so all they had to do was pass that piece of legislation through.First truth first fact: a 500-page Supplementary Order Paper not a problem technical in its matter but actually it was turning around to change some of those issues in the bill. But here's the point and the reasons why we're here: they declared that it was policy-neutral; it wasn't. What are the reasons why it wasn't policy-neutral? It was because in all of the Social Security Legislation Rewrite Bill—there you go it's a bit of a mouthful—there was one little chestnut that they decided to put there; that was called the winter energy payment. That means it was not policy-neutral. Why? It was introduced by this Government as a little chestnut they could turn around there—yeah you could burn that little chestnut somehow. It was to warm the cockles of the hearts of the people out there in voter land—to turn around and say to them Look we care for you—we care for you—because we've got this little chestnut; it's called the winter energy payment."So here's the problem and the reason why we're here: it's called the "R S and B"—in the trade we call it the "rip shite and bust". In other words when you rush something without doing the work what happens? You make a mistake. So here's the mistake that they made: they hadn't done the detail and the reasons why we're here today is because of that mistake. Make no excuses about it. The Minister has said a mistake has been made—a mistake has been made. Why? It was because you put the little chestnut in you didn't do your work you didn't do your homework otherwise we wouldn't be here today. That's the reason why we're here.Let's talk about this little chestnut. Let's see if this is really a chestnut that's going to truly warm the cockles of the hearts in voter land of the people out there. That's a little bit of truth that's out here. So this little chestnut that's out there what they haven't told you is this: it's a payment that will erode over time. How will it erode over time? In other words it won't last over the longevity of the people that you want to care for. Why? You haven't indexed that piece of payment. What does that mean to the people on the other side who may not understand what it is? That means that as time goes on with inflation if you haven't indexed it the amount will erode over time. In other words that little chestnut will disappear—that little chestnut will disappear.What would have been the difference under our family tax package? We would have made a difference to the beneficiaries that are out there the so-called people that we care for those elderly people that are out there those seniors and those superannuitants. Why? We indexed it so that there was longevity of payments over a longer period of time. So this little chestnut this hopeful little piece that you put out there isn't quite as good as you're making it out to be. You can turn around and say that there's cold water on this side but let me tell you the truth. To the people out there the truth is that with all the passion that you can talk about this will not make a difference.We don't support this not because we don't think it's important but because it isn't clearly the change that will make a difference in the lives of the people that we're caring about. We don't believe it's going to truly address the issue of those that are in sight. Here's the thing: people are now seeing that the Minister—and not only is it a problem but you see the problem that they've found on top of the problem is that there's over 600 people that are going to be paid twice; 600 people that are going to be paid twice. That's right. So not only did we not fix the first problem in select committee because it was rushed we've now got another problem that they still haven't fixed. Another 600 people out there—which by the way they've said "Right don't worry; they're only a small number out of the one million that are out there." But that's not the point is it? The point is we've had one problem and now we've found another one. This little chestnut is not what it's made out to be.We don't support this. We don't support this because the intent that the Government has turned around and said—it won't make a difference. It won't truly warm the cockles of the hearts of the people that we're talking about the superannuitants. The winter energy payments will be paid twice to people who should have been paid only once and here we have the so-called gift that they give to the elderly. We know this—and they haven't thought about this detail. You'll be scrambling around and your advisers will say "Oh is that true? Is that correct?" It is true it is correct. It isn't indexed so guess what: it won't last the distance of time to make the difference. But don't worry; you'll come back to the House and you'll have another amendment bill on the amendment that you've already made. We don't support this bill. It isn't what it was called to be: to make a difference in the lives of people. But on this side we know that we can. If you just learnt a lesson to hold on to the things that are important we wouldn't be back here in the House again. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker."