Goodhew Jo: Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Goodhew Jo: Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:653;Page:2241] 
JO GOODHEW (National—Rangitata) 
: 
 I rise this evening to contribute to the debate on the Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill. I listened with interest to Annette King the member opposite who rightly pointed out that this bill was introduced by Labour and of course it is supported by National. I was a little concerned because although the bill had its genesis in the forty-eighth Parliament I waited for 9 long minutes to hear the member opposite talk about that. I was really worried because I heard only in the last few seconds the member opposite mention the bill. But what I also heard was concern from members opposite about National and about superannuitants and veterans. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: We’ll watch the Budget with great interest. 
JO GOODHEW 
: Members will have to wait only a few more hours. We do not have to wait for the Budget. Tomorrow 1 April and it is no joke New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension payments will rise by—wait for it—up to $15.64 a week for a couple who both qualify to $478.38 a week compared with 1 October last year. For a single person living alone superannuation and veterans payments will go up by $13.16 a week to $310.95. We will be waiting only a few more hours but not for the Budget. Soon the superannuitants and veterans of New Zealand will be feeling much happier about what is coming their way. I see that the heads opposite have gone down so clearly that was not good news for members on the other side of the Chamber. But it is good news for these New Zealanders. 
I am pleased to be given the opportunity to speak on the bill tonight which I enthusiastically support. I played a part in the genesis of this bill because I like many members of this House made representations in the previous Parliament to the previous Government about the problems with not supporting the superannuation payments of New Zealanders who are living overseas. Some of my constituents who were working as volunteers overseas got in touch with me. One partner was a superannuitant but his wife was not but now she is as well. They were not getting any support from New Zealand yet they felt they had paid their taxes all their lives. This is a very very good bill for the likes of those people and I know other members like myself have made representations to have this bill come before Parliament. 
What do we hope for our hard-working older New Zealanders when they choose to retire? We hope they will have good health they will have the wealth to enjoy the days of their retirement and they will be able to enjoy the pastimes that they have saved up so to speak for their retirement. But for some lucky New Zealanders retirement means a chance for them to travel overseas. Some will travel for the pleasure of travel some will travel to see their relatives and friends and some will travel as my constituents did to do voluntary work in communities that do not know the wealth of opportunity that we have in New Zealand. 
This bill is an important step forward in making it easier for New Zealand superannuitants and veterans pensioners to travel overseas or to retire there. I take the Minister’s point and I also wonder why they would want to do that. I certainly hope my parents and relatives do not choose to live overseas but we would not stop them if they wanted to do so. We would prefer they stayed in New Zealand with family. But again those older folk may be travelling so as to live closer to family. National is committed to making the retirement of older New Zealanders a little easier and this bill gives them greater choice in where they may wish to retire to. 
The purpose of the bill is to make amendments to the provisions to the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 and also to the War Pensions Act 1954. The measures that provide for the payment of New Zealand superannuation and veterans pensions overseas have been in place since 1 April 1990. That is 18 years ago and I say that with no hesitation because our daughters were born just a couple of months later. 
The current measures provide for a flat rate payment of 50 percent of the domestic rate of benefit. I am just setting out the current situation and describing it so that we can see why there is a need for change. An important point relates to where a person leaves New Zealand with the intention of residing in a country with which New Zealand has no agreement relating to reciprocity of social security monetary benefits—that is it is not a specified Pacific country. This flat rate payment of 50 percent deters older New Zealanders from retiring overseas because it certainly provides insufficient funds or income to allow them a reasonable standard of living in retirement in most countries. My constituents were lucky. They were supported by the community that they were living in in part but it was particularly difficult for them not having any funds. This bill is again as the Minister described about giving more choice to older New Zealanders. 
Payment is also currently linked to residents in one particular overseas country which means that superannuitants or veterans pensioners cannot travel to or between multiple countries and continue to receive their payment. If they are doing their big “grey OE”—I do like that phrase—then going to just one country would seem to not be in the spirit of what they have saved for for their retirement. The status quo is not an option and that is why this bill has been brought to the House this evening. 
The current law creates many problems as I have outlined for our older New Zealanders. To qualify for New Zealand superannuation a person must have had 10 years’ residence in New Zealand since the age of 20 5 years of which must have been since the age of 50 and the person must of course be 65 years of age or over. New Zealand’s residence-based pension system contrasts with the contributory nature of most overseas pension schemes and it does not easily lend itself to situations where people move in and out of New Zealand. 
Two key issues have arisen as a result of the increasing international movement of people and they include the method of dealing with overseas pensions paid into New Zealand which effectively tops up the amount of overseas pension to the appropriate full rate of New Zealand superannuation. I certainly believe that every member in this Parliament would have received representations from their constituents on that one. It can be a contentious issue and it is difficult to administer but it has remained essentially unchanged for 70 years. The rules for payment of New Zealand superannuation overseas are overly restrictive and they prevent many New Zealanders from receiving payment while living in the country of their choice or from receiving payment while travelling without having the intent to live in one particular country. That is also problematic. 
It is time for change and this bill will from 2 November 2009 allow the qualifying superannuitants and veterans pensioners who wish to travel in or to or between any overseas country to retain their entitlement. That is an important word. When we hear from people who have paid taxes towards their superannuation they truly believe they have done their bit to prepare for their retirement. It is important that when they later become resident in a country with which New Zealand does not have an agreement they are able to collect their pension. For those who wish to reside in any country with which New Zealand has no agreement relating to reciprocity it will mean that they can retain their entitlement if they become resident in that country or even if they begin to travel. 
 The Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill is increasingly more and more relevant for older New Zealanders. New Zealand like most OECD countries has an ageing population. The older population is predicted to double by the year 2028 and the population aged over 85 years will almost treble during that period. That creates quite a lot of issues in the planning for that change in New Zealand’s demographic. By 2051 older people in New Zealand will make up approximately a quarter of the population. Older people want to travel. They want to keep connected with their families who are often spread far and wide across the globe. Despite older people being more mobile they suffer many problems which is a situation that National is committed to making easier over time. This important bill gets us started on that process. 
I look forward to participating in the select committee’s examination of this bill as we hear the submissions on it. I also commend this bill to the House as others before me have done. I am really very pleased that there is cross-party support for the bill and I believe that New Zealand superannuitants and veterans wanting to travel or live overseas will congratulate the whole Parliament on this bill. Thank you.