Wall Louisa: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWall Louisa: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 18 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4600. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa): Tēnā koe te Māngai o te Whare. Kia orana. Fakalofa atu ki a mutolu osi. Malo ni. It is my pleasure to speak on this the third reading of the Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill. I would like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to the two heads of State—Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna and Premier Talagi from Niue—who came to our country and in a very rare occurrence made a submission to the select committee. From my perspective I think the significance of that submission really needs to be reflected in the final debate in the House because what it speaks to actually is the prioritisation from their perspective of this piece of legislation.I just want to outline quickly the eligibility for New Zealand superannuation. For people who are listening: you have to be 65 years of age you have to be a citizen or resident you have to have lived here for 10 years since the age of 20 and you also have to have lived here for 5 years since the age of 50. Generally you have to be a resident in New Zealand on the date of application. Those are the general rules or criteria around New Zealand superannuation.If you are from the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau you are a citizen of this country by virtue of having been born in one of those countries. They are Realm countries of New Zealand so they are incredibly special and they have a special status in terms of us here in Aotearoa. You have to have spent 20 years in New Zealand since the age of 20 and 5 years since the age of 50 but under this legislation—and this is where I want to congratulate the Government—you can now apply from the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelaufor your pension. So well done; congratulations. On behalf of the people of the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau I would like to say thank you because I think it is significant. In fact it is one of the two things that the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and the Premier of Niue came to submit about.Half of what they asked for has been achieved. In terms of the differences obviously being able to apply from those Realm countries is incredibly important. The other difference that I want to highlight is that unlike general New Zealanders who have to have been here for 10 years since the age of 20 in fact if you come from the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau you actually have to have lived in New Zealand for 20 years. And that was the main contention particularly of the submission by the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands to the select committee. If you are a general New Zealander it is 10 years; if you are from the Cook Islands it is 20.So he said: “How about because we have to live in New Zealand for 20 years the compensation for that is not to scrap the 5 years since 50 but”—he was actually saying—“why do we not recognise that if you spend 5 years from 50 in the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau because they are Realms of New Zealand that qualifies you?”. Because the reality is that they may have lived in other parts of the world. They may have lived in Australia or in Sweden or in London or wherever. So actually it was about recognising people who come back to the Cook Islands and contribute to those countries. And I think that has been the main contention.When you look at all the statistics about how expensive it is it actually does not stack up. Currently 220 people receive New Zealand superannuation in the Cook Islands. That is about 33 percent of those who are eligible. When this legislation goes through tonight 245 people will become eligible. So there is not going to be a big flood. The Government is not going to take a big hit. It is not going to cost the Government a lot of money. In fact they have estimated that there will be an extra 16 people per annum. So this is not about money. Yes this is about the special status that the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau have in New Zealand’s constitution and about our recognition that they are part of our country. They have automatic citizenship.We would have contended that the Government could go just that little bit further and got rid of the requirement. I think that in the Government’s mind Cook Islanders live in New Zealand and then when they are 55 they leave here and go back to the Cook Islands. The reality is that that is not what happens. So thank you to the people who made a submission and thank you to the people who have contributed to the debate. I commend the bill to the House but with that caveat. Thank you.