Barry MaggieHon MAGGIE BARRY (Minister for Seniors): It is with great pleasure that I rise to talk about this Government's proud track record and echo the sentiments so eloquently expressed by my friend and colleague the Hon Nikki Kaye who has bounced back with a vengeance. She absolutely nailed it when she talked about the superficial cosmetic makeover really that the Opposition has done by changing its front bench and having a deputy leader who has achieved almost nothing that anyone can name. This is the quality of person who is replacing Annette King who has served loyally and well and that is the punishment that she gets for doing what she has done. To me that appointment and the nonsensical Angry Andrew" diatribe that began this debate characterises why it is that Labour is lost in the wilderness. It does not have a hope. It does not have policies. It does not have people who can enact them. It is a waste of space as an Opposition and then it joins forces with the Greens. So we have a double-whammy of ineffectiveness.Rather than dwell on the nonsense that we have been hearing and the lack of substance I would like to talk in my call about the significant progress that this Government is making. At-risk children and family violence: the work that has been done in this area—and I commend my colleague the Hon Anne Tolley who has worked extremely hard with Amy Adams to do what no Government has done before and that is to bring together a very large group of Ministers ministries and officials to really look hard at the fabric and substance of what we can do to deliver in an area that has really become more and more of a problem. I know from my own seniors portfolio that the reported cases of elder abuse and then social isolation are really the thin end of the wedge; we really need to be able to address them and we are doing that.We are knowing and identifying that family and sexual violence affects children. It affects people of all ages and stages including the elderly. It has devastating impacts on individuals their families and communities. Family violence it is estimated costs New Zealand more than $4 billion a year and the total annual cost of sexual violence crime is estimated at about $1.8 billion. These are serious problems for which we have policies new ministries and different ways of addressing. I think that the work that we have done will change the face of New Zealand and make it a much safer place for all New Zealanders.In superannuation with the changes that have been signalled I am very proud to be part of a Government that is supporting older New Zealanders treating them with respect and understanding that they expect and are entitled to only too well—a level of support that we need to be able to give them and guarantee that we can give in perpetuity to our older New Zealanders. By gradually increasing the retirement age from 2037 from 65 to 67 years of age we will much more fairly spread the costs and the benefits of superannuation between generations. It is something that we have heard and we have acknowledged. We are giving people the opportunity and the time to plan ahead and to adjust. This will of course not affect anyone born before 30 June 1972.We have a very strong track record as a Government in the past 8 years of supporting our superannuitants. The weekly payments have increased by 35 percent after tax while inflation has increased by 14 percent. We are very much committed to the universal nature of New Zealand superannuation. We will keep it pegged to 66 percent of the average wage which—under the great work that was done by our now Prime Minister and is being carried on by our Minister of Finance Steven Joyce—is making this a strong economy so that we are able to continue to deliver. And the average wage will rise and with it superannuation entitlements. As well as that we are not means testing. We are ensuring that our senior New Zealanders are well looked after.Some of the things that have been exciting me as the Minister of Conservation are around Predator Free 2050 which I would like to dwell on as a final part here. Tomorrow the Prime Minister and I will go to Dunedin to sign a memorandum of understanding with that city along with Wellington along with Picton and along with a lot of communities around New Zealand that are now embracing the vision that by 2050 we will be rid of the top three pests: rats stoats and possums. We are addressing other pests as well; the war on weeds is going very well. We are trying to ensure that kauri dieback is addressed along with other real threats to our conservation and to the glorious landscape that I think as New Zealanders we all identify with strongly and feel proud of. Predator Free 2050 is at the heart of it. It is a vision that is being embraced throughout the country and I am proud that our leader the new Prime Minister has such faith in it as well and that cities around New Zealand are embracing it. Thank you."