Collins Judith: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans’ Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
Collins Judith: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans’ Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3016] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 This is a good bill. I do not want to shock members but I say that it is a good bill. The problem is of course that it has taken too long to get here. Mrs Barbara White was a very brave lady to come to Parliament with a petition. She came to the Social Services Committee and yes she was supported by the member referred to by the previous speaker David Benson-Pope. Mrs White is one of several people who are in the situation of being aged pensioners whose spouses are in hospital or in care—but the spouses can still recognise their wives or husbands. They are people who have been with their spouses for many many years but who are now not only living alone but are living on a smaller amount of benefit because it has not been recognised that they are living alone. She brought her petition in 2002; we are now in mid-2006. That is too long. It is far too long for a situation like this to continue for Mrs Barbara White and the other people affected. 
It is very interesting that a bill was introduced to this House only after my bench mate and colleague the Hon Dr Nick Smith also took up the issue for Mr Page. He fought for Mr Page who is a Nelson resident to be able to get a single living alone allowance. Mr Page was living alone but because he had been married for 70 years and his wife still recognised him he was not able to get the single living alone allowance. He was told that he would have to get divorced or have his wife not recognise him before he could get the single living alone allowance. 
That is an instance of the cruelty of some of these regulations. They are set in good faith but unfortunately they do not always take into account human realities. This bill has taken far too long in gestation. It is only a couple of pages long; it did not take an awful lot of effort. I am not aware of any party in this House that did not vote for it. I am not aware of anyone on the Social Services Committee who did not support it. This is a good bill; it should have been before the House a lot more quickly. We could have passed it under urgency—we have had so many sittings under urgency since late 2004. There is no excuse for this bill to have taken so long. It is interesting that only a few people will in fact benefit from this bill. That is because not everybody lives long enough to be living alone while his or her lifetime partner is in care. 
Given the title of this bill and considering that it affects veterans pensions it is appropriate to mention that there are veterans living in the Montecillo Veterans Home in Dunedin who are worried about what happened there. There are Viet Nam veterans who will never ever benefit from this bill because with the life expectancy of Viet Nam veterans they will never live long enough. One of the jobs that I have had to do involving veterans—as with the Agent Orange inquiry—has been to go to an awful lot of their funerals. These are men in their 60s—some now in their 70s—who died far too young. Generally veterans lose about 10 years of their life expectancy. I think that applies to veterans of any war frankly because it takes an awful lot off them. 
Unfortunately this bill will not be of any benefit to Nancy Wake who is the most celebrated war heroine of this country. It will not do her any good. She is now living in England but was born in New Zealand and is of part-Maori extraction part-French and part-English. She is a woman of extreme courage. She is now in her 90s. I have asked this Government to award her an honour while she is alive. I hope that the Government actually takes that step. I understand that it is unlikely given that so many members of the Government in Cabinet have written to me and said that she does not qualify. No I guess she does not. She is only one of the bravest people in the world. She is only a New Zealander. She still has a New Zealand passport. She is a New Zealander. So of course she would not qualify! She has been honoured by the Americans and she is not American. She has been honoured by the English and she is not English. She has also been honoured by the French and the Australians. Australia is the country that she grew up in but she is not Australian any more. She is a New Zealander. 
There are times when we have to make exceptions for exceptional people. Nancy Wake is one of those exceptions. She will not benefit from this bill but she is someone whom this country should be very proud of. I urge members from all sides of the House to put forward Nancy Wake to the Prime Minister and the Ministers and ask that they please take what might be the last opportunity to honour a woman of courage. Too often in this country we honour people just for sporting prowess and arts prowess. We sometimes have difficulty honouring people who do the work that others of us would rather was not done. 
Unfortunately war is a brutal business and Nancy Wake’s job was brutal but she did it. She led 7000 resistance fighters and she led them in the most extreme circumstances. This Parliament has the ability to ask the Prime Minister and the Ministers to do the right thing by one of our very few remaining unrewarded extreme heroes. She is undoubtedly the most decorated war heroine in the world. The only country that has not done its duty by her is her own country New Zealand. My colleagues in the Maori Party have asked that she be honoured National Party members have asked that she be honoured I am sure New Zealand First would wish that she be honoured—and I see some nodding from New Zealand First members—I am sure the ACT party would wish her to be honoured and I am sure that there are many good people in the Labour Party who would wish her to be honoured. I ask them please to take some steps to get their Government to do the right thing by this woman. It is no good getting all excited about heroes and heroines once they are dead because death is pretty final. 
 This woman is 94. Days are not getting any longer for her; they are becoming pretty short. We work in a war memorial. I ask that we please respect this woman and honour her now while she is alive. She will not get the benefit of this bill but it would be one of the things that so many veterans would take as a mark of very good faith and they would respect us very much for doing this.