Fairbrother Russell: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Fairbrother Russell: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8757] 
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to follow the speech made by my good friend Te Ururoa Flavell in which he raised his concerns fear and suspicions. I have to tell him as a recent past president of Grey Power that members of Grey Power do not share the paranoia expressed in that speech. Grey Power represents the older generation who carry with them the years of experience the maturity and the wisdom that bundles up to make one heck of a good bundle of common sense. As Mr Flavell will find out if he ever gets the chance it is no easy ride to speak to a Grey Power meeting. It is no easy ride and that is not because they do not understand and not because they will be taken advantage of. It is no easy ride because they know the answers to most of the questions they will ask. They can assess the response and judge whether the person speaking is talking fact or fiction.  
I invite Mr Flavell to repeat his speech to Grey Power and tell them just why the diversity of options available to our older members of society should not be reduced to a SuperGold card to make it easy for people to access the benefits that this Government is unfolding one step at a time. What the member’s speech was really about was suspicion and a lack of belief in the integrity of the older generation and those who try to help provide for them.  
That is what this bill is all about. This bill is in fact the reflection of a Government that keeps its word. The SuperGold card recognises the contribution that senior citizens make to New Zealand and it fulfils a commitment made as a part of the confidence and supply agreement that this Labour-led Government has with New Zealand First. It is this carrying-through of promises—which is the hallmark of this Labour-led administration—that ensures stable coalition Governments in this era of MMP. It is this carrying-through of promises this basis of good faith this belief that people in this country will do their best and that the people who endeavour to rip others off are few and far between and this underpinning belief in the goodness of humanity that will ensure that a Labour-led Government will be returned to power after the next election. People know they can trust a Helen Clark - led Government.  
I think it is important that I go back to the basis of this bill because a lot has been said already this afternoon and perhaps those listening to the debate might lose sight of what the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill is all about. I speak as one who is part of a long line of those who have delivered this bill to the House. As I said the bill is the fruition of the negotiated working agreement between New Zealand First and the Labour Party at the time of the formation of the last Government. The proposals quickly came to the floor of the House and were sent off to the Social Services Committee of which my good friend Georgina Beyer was the chair. Georgina saw the referral of this bill to the select committee the advertising of calling for submissions and in fact the hearing of submissions. When Georgina retired from this House to go to greener pastures I took over the chairmanship of the committee and saw through the sign-off of the ultimate report.  
The purpose of this bill is to create a SuperGold card which will be available from August 2007. That is just 3 months away. The SuperGold card will recognise the contribution senior citizens have made and currently make to New Zealand. It is important to remember that. In fact on Anzac Day last Wednesday most of us in this House probably took time out to celebrate. What was Anzac Day if it was not a celebration of the value of the senior citizens in our community? Those who attended Anzac Day memorials from dawn until dusk as I did in Napier would have seen a large number of senior citizens and their supporting younger families. What was significant at the dawn service in Taradale this Anzac Day was the number of younger people. It was probably the largest turn-out at a dawn service in Taradale in living memory and of course the turn-out was that of the younger generation supporting the senior citizens and honouring the contribution they made to the New Zealand we have today.  
This card carries on that vein of support and celebration of our senior citizens. This card will enable senior citizens to access discounts and concessions from participating businesses. My friend Mr Flavell was postulating about the dangers of microchipping but it is not compulsory to have a gold card. It is not a mandatory requirement; it is an opt-in requirement. So those opting in will carefully consider the benefits and the disadvantages and the evidence before the Social Services Committee suggested that there were very few disadvantages. The committee recommended that there be an inquiry into microchipping only as a matter of caution and it could be an inquiry that may be worth undertaking by the committee later this term.  
It is an opt-in card so that our senior citizens can access discounts and concessions from participating businesses the Government or local authority services. It will indicate the eligibility of senior citizens to Government entitlements such as New Zealand superannuation and the veterans pension and for seniors it will replace the community services card and the New Zealand superannuation card. Both of these cards have shown that cards are useful to senior citizens as they go about their business and take advantage of that which is offered to them because of their age and past contribution to New Zealand society.  
Just recently I was speaking to a Grey Power meeting in Napier—in fact to the very chapter I was president of several years ago. I proposed to speak for 20 minutes and the question time that followed lasted for over an hour. I had to call an end to the vigorous question time from a large turn-out of members whose questions were all engaged in and encouraging of what this Government is doing. They were of course interested in the rates rebate scheme. They celebrate the fact that the Government recognises that pensioners on lower incomes are getting assistance with rates. As values of properties rise there is a downside for those who are not real estate agents—that is those who pay the rates. As the values of properties rise so too does the value of the rates rebate. It is now sitting at $500 for those who are entitled to the maximum benefit. Of course the gold card will assist our senior citizens to access benefits such as the rates rebate.  
The SuperGold card will offer the option—I say option; it is not mandatory—of including a photograph of the cardholder. So if a senior citizen wishes to have his or her photograph on the card—and I have to say that it seems to me to be a very good idea indeed—he or she can indeed have a photograph. In future there will be the possibility of embedding a microchip in the card. If we extend that step of microchipping it will make even more available the many benefits that this Government is underscoring and developing.  
It has been a pleasure to represent the senior citizens of this country in this House. It is a matter on which I often reflect. As we rush toward the folly of youth looking for young blood leadership we sometimes turn our backs on those of advanced years who have the vigour of youth. Some such as me can both be a Grey Power president and have children at primary school. That is a combination I recommend to most of our senior citizens if they can get the right marital combination. However I do urge those who are married to stay married rather than seek alternate partners.  
I endorse this gold card to the House. I am delighted to take part in the second reading debate on this bill and I listened with some interest to the carping criticisms of the previous speaker for the National Party my friend Nicky Wagner who once again raised her shibboleth—the emperor with no clothes. She seems devoted to mentioning it—she mentions it in every speech she makes. I suggest she turn one day to a better metaphor or maybe lift her horizons above the clothing of her leaders.  
I commend this bill to the House. It is my absolute pleasure to speak in support of it. Although it is easy to minimise the benefit of this bill it is very risky to overlook the convenience it offers to senior citizens as they go about their business. It brings into one card the access to the many benefits that this Government has delivered upon. I think one of the most outstanding benefits is the assurance of a base level to the superannuation benefit. I remember too well watching a television programme that led to the birth of the Jim Bolger Government where he gave an assurance that there would be no cut. The next day or so that promise was gone back upon. That is not the history of this Government. This Government is revealing a history of making promises and keeping them and the delivery of this rather simple concept speaks loudly and poetically of what this Government is doing for our senior citizens. I commend this bill.