Stewart Barbara: Social Security (Long-term Residential Care—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Stewart Barbara: Social Security (Long-term Residential Care—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 24 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2532. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 It is my first call on the Social Security (Long-term Residential Care—Budget Measures) Amendment Bill and I am very delighted to get up and take a call on behalf of New Zealand First. We in New Zealand First believe that this bill is an ambush on senior citizens. Nothing was specifically mentioned yesterday. We heard nothing in the Prime Minister’s speech about it. There have been no press releases from the Minister either that we have seen. We have had a look at the website. Nothing has been said about this. It just snuck in under the quiet of urgency which is really quite shameful.  
Why on earth are we attacking senior citizens in this way? Private saving is what has been flagged as the way for the Government to get out of trouble and we are all expected to save in order to dig the country out of the mess it is in. But this legislation shows New Zealanders that it is not worthwhile to actually save because a good portion of your savings will be whittled away to pay for your care.  
I cannot understand why Grey Power and other senior organisations were not invited to have a say on this particular legislation. What do we have in the regulatory impact statement? It states: “The analysis of fiscal savings was undertaken by the Ministry of Health with limited consultation with the Ministry of Social Development and the Treasury. Consultation was limited in order to maintain budget confidentiality.” Then we have the audacity to have this legislation snuck through the House under the guise of urgency. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Snuck? Snuck? Barbara! 
BARBARA STEWART 
: It is sneaking through under the guise of urgency. I do not know why the views of this part of society—a vulnerable section of society—are being ignored totally by this bill being snuck through Parliament. We want a brighter future for our senior citizens but where is that brighter future? I can assure National members that it is definitely not at this part of a person’s life. When you get to living in a rest home it does not look very good at all. We might as well all have the brighter future while we are younger and spend as much as we can because the Government is going to remove the savings anyway. It is a total disincentive to saving.  
I was quite interested to hear one of the National members say this morning that we are boldly going where no man has gone before and I say they are right. They are right and we do not like the direction that this is going in. It is negative it is penny-pinching it is miserable and it does not address the fundamentals that are actually needed to put this country back on the right track again. Where is the brighter future for our seniors? It has gone. It is not even there. It is a bleak outlook for this particular group and it is a shame that the legislation has to go through the House under urgency when it need not have. It is not an urgent piece of legislation. There was plenty of time to consult with other groups and to let our seniors actually have a say on this particular legislation.  
We in New Zealand First think this is an ambush on our senior citizens and we will not be supporting this legislation in any way. It is too shameful to support.