Logie JanJAN LOGIE (Green): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise to take a call in the second reading of the Social Security (Winter Energy Payment) Amendment Bill which is as already stated by the Minister and previous speakers a minor technical fixing of a drafting error as this legislation went through under urgency from memory to make sure that the thousands of New Zealanders who were struggling to heat their houses because they were living on inadequate fixed incomes were able to put the heater on last winter.When we hear from the other side that this was an abuse of process that it went through quickly and the Government is now fixing its mistakes I've got to say that my priority is those people being able to put on their heater. I remember during the election campaign talking to a particular woman on supported living who was in my street who spoke to me about having $25 a week left after paying her rent. She was struggling to manage her health wanting to get better and was not able to put decent food on the table or turn on the heater. She was living in cold damp conditions. We all pay for that reality where thousands of New Zealanders have been stuck in poor health and in their homes unable to participate because of the decisions of previous Governments to keep them stuck with inadequate incomes.That was the urgency behind this bill: to give them the money to turn that heater on to have a chance to be well and to start turning around the 1600 excess deaths that happen every year in this country because of the inability of many New Zealanders to heat their houses—10 percent I think it is of the country who are living in energy poverty because of our policies. That was the urgency behind this legislation. I also just do have to comment on some of the debates that I've heard from the other side of the House this afternoon. It really does feel to me as if some people must have had their memories wiped because it is not uncommon; I have sat in this House multiple times to fix drafting errors. It's just a human reality that mistakes happen in legislation and that Government certainly was not immune to that human reality. It's weird to me—and I may have participated in the past—it is very strange to sit and listen to the political rhetoric that ignores that reality and to try and put it down to factors other than just that human reality and that sometimes mistakes are being made. I understand that we may be in this House considering legislation that's fixing up errors that were made by that previous Government. So I really hope that when they're considering any legislation like that that the members on that side of the House rail against their previous Government in the same way that they are railing against this one because that would provide some consistency. I also want to point out that the concerns in the quoting of the Hon Chris Hipkins and making a point against the misuse of retrospective legislation are not appropriate in this case because in this case the retrospectivity was to ensure that people had something extra. It wasn't taking away people's rights but actually ensuring that people had some more money. That's actually not something where the concern around retrospectivity applies. We usually have a concern when it's changing the law and holding people accountable to a law that wasn't in place and that we shouldn't hold them to a measure that wasn't clear. That doesn't apply when we're giving people extra money to turn on their heaters.I also just want to point out again the points that have been made about the fact that this isn't indexed. I don't think anyone on this side of the House is saying that the winter energy payment is the solution to poverty in this country. It's very clear from the recent statistics around the still heartbreaking rates of child poverty in this country that we have much more work to do. This sat alongside other initiatives in the Families Package and we still have more work to do if we want everyone in this country to have the chance of reaching their potential in life rather than being trapped in poverty. But I do want to point out the inconsistency particularly when up against the fact we heard that under the last Government when they increased a payment for sole parents of up to $25 a week they very rarely acknowledged that it was up to" $25 a week. Very few people actually got that full amount and that was not indexed. So it does seem very strange to me that this Opposition is holding this Government to a standard that they did not hold themselves to. I really think that we just need to go back to the core purpose of this bill which is about fixing a drafting error to ensure that two groups of people who managed to get the winter energy payment but because of the drafting lack of clarity the legislation didn't support them getting it are able to get it which was the intent of the policy. So with that said it warms the cockles of my heart and I do think—we heard there was a criticism that you know this Government was doing this to warm the cockles of people's hearts. Hon Ruth Dyson: And their feet. JAN LOGIE: Well shame on us—and their feet. I know shame on us that we would want to bring a bit of joy and warmth into people's lives! It's something personally I'm quite happy to stand alongside."