Goudie Sandra: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Goudie Sandra: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:636;Page:6947] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 At this point I would really like to pay considerable tribute to Grey Power. Grey Power has had the idea of a discount card for a number of years now and I pay significant tribute to the fact that it has been able to raise awareness of the value of a discount card and has been able to educate other people as to how to take that to another level and provide the kind of support our senior citizens really need. On that basis I pay exceptional tribute to Grey Power for the great work it has done and for how it has managed to take the whole idea of a discount card to a new level albeit through Mr Peters. 
What will this card actually do? Mr Peters has reiterated what this card will provide which is what we hope will be some significant discount options to people. As Mr Peters rightfully pointed out about 540000 people are aged 65-plus and another 15000 people who are below that age will also be entitled to this card. I thought that was quite an interesting point. It is to be hoped that cardholders will receive some significant benefits from having this card. 
Maybe those benefits will include a discount on electricity prices since we are quite clearly seeing a substantial increase in electricity prices that the current Government cannot control. That increase will have a significant effect on senior citizens who will be pulling the plug on heating just to save on their power bills. It is to be hoped that the Minister Winston Peters will seek some discounts for our senior citizens on increasing power costs. We look forward to that with interest. I know that Grey Power will celebrate any move in that regard given its continuing concern over the cost of electricity and the number of our older citizens who have been subjected to considerable hardship in the winter months. The health of some of those people was compromised resulting in their deaths. We need to bear that in mind and really consider the sorts of discounts that may be made available to our senior citizens. 
In reading the bill I notice some quite interesting points. The commentary states: “The card will enable seniors to access discounts and concessions from participating businesses …” which is great. Businesses can see a really great opportunity here. As members will appreciate our ageing population is one of our largest demographics so there will be quite strong interest in that. Those people will be interested to hear anything from the Minister on what the tendering process has revealed to date and on what level of interest has been expressed to date by businesses as a result of that tendering process. Other concessions will come from the Government. As I said before we are looking to the Government to see what concessions it will provide to our senior citizens through the Supergold Card particularly in relation to the increase in power charges. 
The third group referred to in the commentary is local authority services. I will be interested to hear what the Minister thinks will be added to the Supergold Card in terms of reduced charges for our senior citizens apart from the rates rebate. I am sure that local authorities will be very interested to see whether they can actually afford to provide any discounts apart from the rates rebate scheme to Supergold Card holders. I am mindful that the Minister’s policy statement refers to trying to get a review of lottery grant funding so that funding for transport for older citizens can be considered through lottery grants. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: When did I say that? 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: It is my understanding that that is the case. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: No I didn’t. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Well perhaps I should drag out some documentation. Maybe I have an email or two. I have not yet seen anything to indicate that the Minister has even looked at furthering that particular policy. 
What else is involved? The other interesting thing about the Supergold Card—and this is something that people will be looking at with some degree of interest—is that this bill allows for regulation-making powers. What does that mean? It means that in the future regulations will be able to be made that could require photographs on Supergold Cards to be compulsory. They could also require microchipping on Supergold Cards to be compulsory. That would be something of an issue for some people but we have to think about the other side of that equation which is the fact that identity fraud is becoming an increasing problem. So there will be some interesting debates at the select committee I am sure. 
Even though this bill is only three pages long it will make some significant changes to the way in which people could be subject to regulation-making powers in the future. People will need to give that some very real consideration. I take the case of my own parents. They do not have plastic credit cards and in the case of my mother she does not have a driver’s licence or any other card that could identify her in any way. She will now have the option of deciding whether she wants a photograph on her Supergold Card. In some respects that could actually be a good thing. [ 
Interruption 
] Perhaps that member might like to take a call and contribute something to the discussion. It could be quite a good thing if my mother were to choose to have a photograph on her Supergold Card because she has no other form of identification. She now relies upon the long-term relationship she has with service providers in her community. 
There will certainly be some pluses—there is no doubt about that. No one will begrudge at all the ability of our senior citizens to have some further support through discounts for all sorts of services. National members welcome that—we absolutely welcome that—in spite of the claims that have been made to the contrary. But we do raise a point around some aspects of the legislation that have to be put in place to move this forward. Whether the regulation-making powers need to be a part of this bill is a question. I am sure that the fact that the Supergold Card will do away with the community services card and the superannuation card will raise some interesting questions around other entitlements around whether there will be asset testing in regard to other entitlements and around how that fits. 
The Supergold Card identifies other entitlements; how far that goes though remains to be seen. There are issues around what sort of asset testing will be affected if any what sort of fiscal implications there will be if any and to what degree those will occur with regard to entitlements on the card excluding the discount abilities. 
National is pleased to support the discount card for our senior citizens; there is no question about that. I do not think anybody can dispute that this is a good idea. As has been said our older citizens form a huge component of our voluntary groups and support groups in the community. I think this card will go some way towards recognising the huge input those citizens have had in our communities for many years. National is certainly supportive of that sort of recognition. 
I do not know whether people know but there is a Ministry of Social Development freephone for people who want to find out more information. I do not mind giving that a free plug because I think people should find out more about what is going on here and what the actual effect of this card will be. The more information that is available to them the better. They need to look at what the bill actually does. I know that members of Grey Power will look at it quite closely. They have had a long-term interest and I commend them for their initiative many many years ago for their discount cards. It is just great that they can set the example by which others have followed in this House. On that basis this legislation is positive for our senior citizens and we will be supporting that. In conclusion the only other comment I would make is that there will be disclosure of information from Births Deaths and Marriages to the Ministry of Social Development.