Stewart Barbara: Social Assistance (Debt Prevention and Minimisation) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Stewart Barbara: Social Assistance (Debt Prevention and Minimisation) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:645;Page:14805] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 On behalf of New Zealand First I rise to support the second reading of the Social Assistance (Debt Prevention and Minimisation) Amendment Bill. We are very pleased to be supporting this bill. It is one that we would have thought was already in place but because it is not we are very pleased to see it occurring at long last. I think that this bill particularly reflects the efficiency of the computer systems that are available today. We know that technology is advancing quite rapidly in all areas and it is good to see this bill in place and this data matching occurring. 
I note that the bill amends the legislation between the Ministry of Social Development the Department of Corrections the New Zealand Customs Service and the Accident Compensation Corporation. As the commentary on the bill states more sharing between these organisations is expected to prevent the recipients of student allowances student loans and those on benefits from accumulating debt. This legislation should do that. I think most people in New Zealand would have been quite horrified to hear that 70 percent of beneficiaries are in debt today. 
The bill also introduces measures to help recover the debt that beneficiaries owe to the Crown and that is really important. Any changes that can be used to prevent overpayments in order to reduce debts need to be implemented. If technology can assist then we need to grab it with both hands and use it to its fullest extent. New Zealand First supports the notion that every person should receive his or her full and correct entitlements from the State and would support assistance with the recovery of Crown debts. We know that debts can become rapidly unmanageable and the fact that one is on a limited income means that debt can mount very quickly. It can take a long time to pay back any debts that are owing and of course there is a lot of stress associated with debt. It is an unfortunate fact that pawn shops second-hand dealers and unscrupulous money dealers are often the very first places that beneficiaries go to when they need money to repay debts and this can create far greater challenges than the ones they had initially. The deals that seem too good to be true—and we see them advertised on television and in many of the community newspapers—are often far too good to be true. The short-term problems disappear but further down the track the problems are often magnified beyond our comprehension and of course this can be very stressful for those who are involved. 
We in this House all know that it can be extremely difficult to manage on a benefit and with the rises in the cost of living to have to repay a debt of $10 to $15 a week is an added stress. To ensure that the debt is not incurred in the first place is absolutely imperative. We all know that being over-indebted has a negative effect on people’s health and well-being and that it can also reduce the financial advantages of returning to work. As we know and as everyone knows levels of repayment are often reduced while a person remains on a benefit so we have a whole group of people who may be staying in poverty unnecessarily. 
We were also pleased to see that changes focused on minimising hardship were included in this bill. They are important. We feel very sorry for beneficiaries who get into this downward spiral of debt unintentionally and unnecessarily so we in New Zealand First support this legislation. Any measure that stops this type of hardship is very worthy of our support.