Lee Melissa: Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lee Melissa: Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:9098. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MELISSA LEE (National) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to rise in support in the third reading of the Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill. This bill is about making things simpler for our older folks—older New Zealanders—at a time when they suddenly find themselves alone after the death of a wife a husband or a partner. Those are difficult times. It replaces the living alone payment and the two current rates of New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension with a new single living alone rate and a new single sharing accommodation rate. The changes—and previous speakers have also talked about this—may seem very minor but they will be significant for the people affected by them. The system needs simplifying and the Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill will do just that. 
At the moment the living alone payment is a separate benefit and it has to be applied for. It has to be applied for within 28 days in order to get the payment backdated. This places an unnecessary burden on older New Zealanders particularly at a time of great loss. Often when they are in grieving mode they may not be motivated to get up and go and apply for a supplement income that is available to them. They may not even be aware of it. Removing that 28-day time period will be very helpful for older folks in New Zealand. 
As I said some older people may not even know that they may be entitled to the payment creating unnecessary hardship and stress. We do not want single superannuitants and single veterans pensioners who are living alone to have to make a separate application for the extra payment that they are entitled to. This bill also means that superannuitants will not need to visit a Work and Income office to make that application. This can be hard for some older New Zealanders and we need to make the process a lot simpler. 
The new single living alone rate will be paid from the day that the superannuitant or veterans pensioner becomes eligible. It recognises that living alone means that you—not you Mr Deputy Speaker—are not able to share the cost of maintaining a household and living costs are higher. A single superannuitant who has been granted a living alone payment receives $25.56 more each week after tax than a single superannuitant who is sharing accommodation. At the date of the enactment of the Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill all recipients of the living alone payment will be transferred to the new single living alone rate of superannuation or veterans pension and it will be paid from the day that people become eligible for it. 
The Opposition has talked a little bit about the definition of a “dependent child”. The purpose of the bill is to amend the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 and the War Pensions Act 1954 to update the definition because different Acts have different definitions of what a “dependent child” really is. The amendment to the bill means that single superannuitants and veterans pensioners with dependent children will receive the new single living alone rate until the end of the calendar year in which the child turns 18 as long as the child is at school or in training. It will also ensure a consistent definition of an 18-year-old dependent child across the social system. If the child remains in the household after he or she turns 18 the superannuitant will receive the new single sharing accommodation rate. These changes will make it simpler and fairer for all single superannuitants and veterans pensioners who live alone. 
This bill is another example of this National Government simplifying processes. The changes may seem small but for our older New Zealanders they will be very significant. We do not want them facing unnecessary difficulties in obtaining what they are rightfully entitled to. Finally I would like to echo the House’s congratulations to Roland—happy birthday. I would like to wish you all right across this House a very happy Easter. God bless you all.