Peters Winston: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Peters Winston: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8721] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Associate Minister for Senior Citizens) 
: 
 I move  
That the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill is the next stage in the process of making the SuperGold card announced last year a reality. This card was a centrepiece of New Zealand First’s election campaign where we were the only party to offer such an initiative and it is currently a critical part of our confidence and supply agreement with the Government. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What’s on it? 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: As I have said before some talk à la Mr Gerry Brownlee and some do as New Zealand First does. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Tell us what’s on it. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh that is the great news. Nothing so insignificant that I could possibly cover in the next 5 hours. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Just try. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Nothing so insignificant that I could possibly cover in the next 5 hours. Unlike the National Party we have policies. And my challenge to Gerry Brownlee is simply this. I ask him to name one thing just one thing that the National Party has done in the last 7 years of New Zealand politics—just one. Apart from losing three elections and having five leaders— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There would be many things that the National Party has done in politics in the last 7 years and to use the member’s own term far too many for me to elucidate in the limited number of hours we have before the House adjourns. But I tell members one thing that the National Party can claim great credit for and that is relieving the people of Tauranga of the Rt Hon Winston Peters. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: When I asked Mr Gerry Brownlee to name just one thing I meant a positive thing not a negative thing. I know National has a list as long as one’s arm of negative things. I meant that he should name just one positive thing and all I can hear now is a deafening silence. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Give us some actuals. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: That is my question. What is one positive thing that the National Party has done in the last 7 years? The answer is doughnuts—nothing nought zero. 
We are very pleased that this bill has progressed to this point and we look forward to seeing the SuperGold card become a reality. The purpose of the bill is to enable the full effect to be given to our intentions with regard to the SuperGold card. I would pay attention if I were that member over there because it will not be long before she will need it. I am pleased to report to the House— 
Sandra Goudie 
: I think he has already reached that goal well before me! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: And in fact by the looks of it that time will be closer than we think. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Has the member already reached that milestone? 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Oh no no. I have a challenge. I challenge that member to get up when I have finished—to make a speech when I have finished not by way of interjection but when it is her turn. I am pleased to report to the House that the Social Services Committee has recommended the bill be passed and has reported it back to the House without amendment. I would like to thank the Social Services Committee for its prompt consideration of the bill. I would like also to thank those who made submissions. We now call on all parties in this House to support the bill through its final stages. 
The SuperGold card is aimed at improving the lot of the more than 540000 New Zealand residents who are aged 65 or over or who otherwise qualify for and receive New Zealand superannuation including those who receive the non-qualified spouse entitlement or a veterans pension. The card will be available from August 2007 and will enable seniors to access discounts from participating businesses while facilitating easy access to Government and local authority concessions entitlements and services. That type of one-stop shop approach is long overdue and will be of huge benefit to seniors. 
Sandra Goudie 
: List the discounts. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: The discounts will be legion. They will be infinite. Over time they will be infinite. 
Sandra Goudie 
: What are they? 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: Well there are rates for a start; there are medical people for a start. A whole lot of businesses will say to themselves that if they can guarantee the solid consumer loyalty of 540000 people they will be in for it. Whether it is insurance—chattels household and life insurance—or something else the options the opportunities and the chances here are infinite. That is the beauty of the scheme. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: It’s all there now. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: It is not there now. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Yes it is. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: No it is not there now. If it was there now why would we have the National Party approving the bill at the select committee and bad-mouthing it in the House? But then again it is the consistent action of the National Party to say one thing in a committee something else in the House and something else on the hustings. 
Sandra Goudie 
: I think that is what Grey Power told that member. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: The feedback from our seniors community to date has been extremely positive and there is an air of expectation surrounding the SuperGold card’s August launch. 
Part 1 makes two amendments to section 132A of the Social Security Act 1964. That section of the Act enables regulations to be made for the issue and use of entitlement cards. The first amendment in Part 1 will allow regulations to be made allowing for cardholder photographs to be placed on entitlement cards. Members should not forget that having a photograph on the card is the choice of the senior. Seniors can decide whether they want that. The Government will provide cardholders with the choice of having their photo included on their SuperGold card which will be useful for those who do not have photo ID. 
The second amendment in Part 1—and I emphasise these words—will in time enable regulations to be made allowing for microchip technology to be embedded in the entitlement cards. The microchip would contain the same information that is currently able to be stored on a magnetic strip but in a more secure form of technology. In essence the provision future-proofs the capability and capacity of the SuperGold card. Although there has been some resistance to and hesitation about the use of microchip technology I can assure members that our seniors have nothing to fear from this development. The reality is that many seniors have already embraced this technology. If they have a current passport they will already be using microchip technology. Many loyalty cards and travel discount cards are already making the transition to microchip technology if they have not already made it. The banking sector is moving towards microchip technology. It is said that by the end of this year every bank will be providing that technology primarily because it is more secure and when that occurs then very quickly magnetic-strip technology will become redundant. 
I want to address the comment made by the Greens over here on my right. I say no we do not put the microchip in the human being; we put it in the card. So it is not a case of trying to address the issue as though it is like the microchipping of dogs. This case involves humans and as I said it will be up to them in time to express whether they need the microchip. In fact microchip technology is now the status quo even here in Parliament. Every member of this House—and I invite members to pull out their security cards right now—and all of our staff are using microchip technology in our new security system again replacing magnetic strips. It would be cruel and duplicitous for MPs to embrace the advantages of this new technology for themselves and for their own security then to deny it to our seniors community. That would be illogical unreasonable unfair and prejudicial. This provision should be viewed as a positive step and one that will bring our seniors into the 21st century. 
Part 2 amends schedule 1A of the Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995. The amendment will allow information about births deaths and marriages to be used by the Ministry of Social Development in order to verify entitlement to the SuperGold card. 
The SuperGold card is an important initiative. It will provide tangible benefits that will make a real difference to the lives of senior citizens. It recognises the myriad of contributions they currently make and will go on making to New Zealand society. Put simply it is there because they deserve it. The card will be sent automatically to people who receive New Zealand superannuation or a veterans pension with a special version for veterans with war and emergency service. The card will be of credit card size. It will carry the cardholder’s name and client number. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Can you expand on local authorities? 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: We will address the issue of local authorities as time goes on. The member should not worry about it because help is on its way. The card will indicate whether the person receives New Zealand superannuation a veterans pension or community services card benefits. 
Sandra Goudie 
: Come on! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: It will replace the community services card and the New Zealand superannuation card for senior citizens. People who currently hold those cards will be able to access their entitlements through the new SuperGold card. 
I commend this bill to the House and I say to the member who has been shouting out during the duration of my address that if all she has ever done in her political career is to pull out a few mangroves— 
Jill Pettis 
: No jump out of cakes! 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS 
: —jump out of cakes and pull out a few mangroves then she may be inclined to resist what is a very very sound and wise move for the elderly people of New Zealand. But I commend the bill to the member because out in the Coromandel in the humble streets villages and hamlets of the Coromandel people in their tens of thousands are waiting for this new technology to be made available to them. As in Thames and the Coromandel around the whole country elderly people are waiting for this measure. I ask my colleagues in this House to put aside their partisan narrow and prejudicial political views in order to for the first time in a long time support the elderly of New Zealand.