Rich Katherine: War Pensions Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
Rich Katherine: War Pensions Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading 
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KATHERINE RICH (NZ National) 
: 
 First I would like to make a couple of comments about the two speeches by the Labour members. I am quite sure that this bill will have an impact on a greater number of lives than just the 100 mentioned by Mr Fairbrother. Secondly I would like to ask the member for Otaki if he is 100 percent sure that the veterans in the home in Levin have been well looked after. It is my understanding that there is still a great sense of unhappiness about the way the management of that home has been treated by this Government. 
I want to commend Mr Hide for his contribution. He pointed out that one of the important things we need to do as members of Parliament is develop the ability to empathise with a wide range of people who might not have had the same experiences as we have. That is quite important when looking at this War Pensions Amendment Bill (No 2). Very few of us in this Chamber have had the sort of experience that we perhaps need to be able to really understand what it is like to be a veteran. Most of us I suppose rely on the experience of our families the stories that some of our elderly folk have told us or people we have met in our travels as members of Parliament. I grew up in the small village of Outram and I always remember lining up with my pack on Anzac Day and hearing read out the long list of names of the young men from Outram who went to both wars and never returned. When one is 7 or 8 years old one does not really understand the huge impact that would have had on the families of those soldiers. 
Today I rang a Mr Perce Wellington in Dunedin who has been a member of our party for well over 60 years. I took the opportunity to ask him about his experiences in World War II. He was a prisoner of war of the Japanese from March 1942 to September 1945. When he became a prisoner of war he was 13½ stone but when he was finally released he was a mere 6 or 7 stone. One of the things that my generation struggles with is understanding what it was like to be at war. Most of us can be quite flippant in some of our comments about war because we do not have a true understanding of the sacrifices that were made. I cannot imagine what it would be like not seeing a member of one’s family for years not knowing whether that person was alive or dead not getting any letters; and not being able to have the products and things that we hold very dear today. I think the younger generation does forget about those who have gone before. 
Mr Hide made a very important point in saying that the provision of entitlements and special treatment of veterans is based on the presumption that society has a debt to repay to those New Zealanders who served in the wars or some other kind of emergency. I very much believe in that. People who have put their bodies on the line are quite different. They do not go to war because they choose to; they go because they are directed by Governments to serve their country. Very few of us have a true understanding of what that sort of sacrifice is like. 
In terms of recognition it is important for all of us to understand that there are some things that make returned servicemen and women quite special. One of the things that this bill sets out to do is to start to set in place ways of recognising those differences. It is a good idea to move the management of pensions away from social security legislation to the War Pensions Act. That sets veterans aside; it says that they are quite different and that we should deal with them specifically. Another positive move in this bill is the changes made to the abatement regimes. This bill provides that veterans can work any number of hours without losing their entitlement to a veterans’ pension. Sue Bradford pointed out that that anomaly should have been tidied up a lot earlier. 
It is interesting that only one of the nine submissions was totally in support of the bill. Many submitters perhaps used the opportunity to raise a whole lot of other issues that were just as important but not covered by the scope of the bill. There was some discussion of issues like the portability of pensions for people who choose to travel overseas. New Zealanders see themselves as very international citizens and increasingly they want the ability to be able to take their pensions with them. 
Darren Hughes 
: No detailed knowledge of war veterans’ homes! 
KATHERINE RICH 
: I must have really hit a nerve with young Mr Darren Hughes because throughout this entire speech he has interjected about the Levin war veterans’ home. I say again that he should check out his home patch because we on this side know that there is a lot of unease and unhappiness about the way the management of that home was just left— 
John Carter 
: By the Government. 
KATHERINE RICH 
: By the Government. 
The other thing I would like to do is pay tribute to the Returned Services Association and some of the comments it has made about this bill. As an advocacy group the association is extremely good at bringing to our attention the things it thinks we need to know about issues to do with its members. This issue is not going to “die out” so to speak because younger servicemen— particularly those who have served in East Timor and other areas; people who have seen equally upsetting sights and been equally traumatised—can argue that they too deserve special recognition when their time comes to retire. 
There is a lot of consensus on this bill and as members are no doubt aware our party will be supporting it. I disagree with comments that perhaps we should have rushed the bill through and not spoken to it at such length. It is important that we recognise the importance of this legislation and give members of all parties the opportunity to make that recognition. 
The last comment I would like to make relates to an interesting Government oversight. It relates to the way that same-sex and de facto relationships have been treated by this bill. The Attorney-General has said that parts of the bill are in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. It is interesting that Tim Barnett and other members on the other side of the House have not raised that as an issue. Although they are quite happy to bring the issue up when it comes to other legislation they have glossed over it with this particular bill. I would like to know what the rainbow branch of the Labour Party thinks of the Government’s oversight because it seems to support those issues when it suits it but not in other areas. 
We will be supporting this very important bill. It gives veterans the recognition they deserve.