Carter John: General Debate 
Carter John: General Debate 
[Volume:672;Page:18340] 
Hon JOHN CARTER (Minister for Senior Citizens) 
: 
 We heard the Minister of Finance talk about some of the positives that the country can look forward to from an economic point of view as we move forward having recovered or as we try to recover from the mismanagement of the 9 years of a Labour Government and of course a recession. The fact is that the Minister of Finance has some positives and the Budget will also look to put us into a Budget surplus in the next 2 or 3 years. 
However I am also pleased to say that on Monday I had the great pleasure and honour of releasing a document that was prepared by the Ministry of Social Development and the Office for Senior Citizens. The document is called  
The Business of Ageing: Realising the Economic Potential of Older People in New Zealand: 2011 - 2051.  
I commend this document to every member of the House and indeed to everyone in New Zealand and for this reason: times are changing and some positives which we will need to consider will happen in respect of baby boomers. Some of us take deep interest in what is happening in this regard because some of us are at the front end of the baby boomers. 
The point is that up until now the debate about the ageing population has been a negative debate. But there are lots of positives that need to be considered and this document lays them out before the House so we can begin the discussion on the positive impact the baby boomers going forward will have on this country and this economy. I want to quote one or two things from this document and at the end of my speech I intend to seek leave to table it for the House to consider. One of the things I will quote is from the beginning of the document. It is a quote from John Beard the director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Ageing and Life Course. He said: “Governments around the world need to invent a new future to tackle the needs and possibilities of an ageing population. Business as usual is just not an option. A 70-year-old of today expects a very different role to what their parents experienced. We need to be brave enough to invent a future that is not simply a different shade of the past.” 
Let us look at some of the facts that have come out and are seriously interesting. The report states: “the number of New Zealanders turning 65 in the 12-month period June 2011 to June 2012 is expected to be 18 per cent higher than in the preceding 12-month period”—that is 18 percent higher. “By 2031 the number of New Zealanders aged 65 and over is expected to exceed one million almost double the current number; an increase in the labour force participation rate of older people from 16 per cent in 2010 to 26 per cent by 2030 could offset the growing demands for funding New Zealand Superannuation over this period.” There are positives happening and the point is this: no one will force this to happen; it will happen. We as a nation need to start thinking about how we adapt and adopt the changes that the baby boomer generation will put before this nation. 
We have expectations. We have always as a group a generation been leaders in this nation. We will be a quarter of the population by 2050. We will have a huge impact on what happens in that time and the nation needs to start to understand the different dynamics that this will bring. Seven to 10 percent of the labour force could be aged 65 or over by 2051. Their earnings from employment could rise from $1 billion to $10 billion in that time. Tax paid on earnings from employment could increase from $200 million to about $1.8 billion. We as a nation need to start understanding what that means. We need to have a discussion about the impact that the baby boomer generation will have. There will be lots of positives for this nation. We will make a huge contribution to the skills shortages that are coming up behind us and that will have a huge impact on productivity and a huge impact on the way in which the workforce responds. 
I commend this document to the House. It is worth reading and considering and most important it is worth discussing. I seek leave to table the document entitled  
The Business of Ageing 
. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? 
Hon David Parker 
: Yes it’s already available. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There is objection.