Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): I want to acknowledge the comments of the previous speaker Scott Simpson in the fact that from the outset the bill had a positive intent that would deliver real gains to elderly people on fixed incomes living in retirement villages.I've listened to some of the debate and I want to acknowledge that while the select committee had its concerns at the end of the day the sponsoring member the Hon Ruth Dyson who put the bill together was very clear from the outset that something needed to be rectified for a group of New Zealanders living in retirement villages who were on fixed incomes and needed to have access to the rates rebate scheme because when you're living on a fixed income these types of supports can just help life a little bit better.But I want to come back to a comment made by John Collyns the executive director of the Retirement Villages Association of New Zealand who has been a keen advocate in support of the work of the Hon Ruth Dyson in ushering this particular bill through. He said that Our 360-member villages are home to around 34000 older New Zealanders or approximately 12 percent of the plus-75 aged population." So that is a number of elderly people who will certainly benefit from the changes that are proposed in this bill. The fact is that extending the rates rebate to those who have a licence to occupy I think sends a number of signals and there are actually other people who live in this situation like those in papakāinga or around marae.But I want to come back to another comment that John made: "It's important to note that around 50 percent of our residents only have their national superannuation to live on. These people are the ones for whom the rates rebate would be the most valuable just as it would have been if they remained in their own homes in the community. It seems grossly unfair that they lose this benefit when they move to a retirement village yet the requirement to pay rates remains." So there is a mechanism within the bill that enables those residents to claim a rates rebate. I want to commend those councils who have responded voluntarily by making it easier for residents in retirement villages to better apportion the rates cost and claim a rebate but by and large this is a streamlined approach.I do want to acknowledge the officials who under a new Government with a new imperative to help the great majority of those certainly living on fixed incomes and who should be claiming the rates rebate to access this scheme. I want to also acknowledge my colleague the Hon Ruth Dyson who has been absolutely vociferous in her advocacy on this particular issue across Parliaments and across different Governments and she has stared as many people down as she had garnered support from to be able to ensure that we can be contributing to a third reading speech and the passage of this bill.I didn't intend to take too long a call except to say and acknowledge a number of people who continue to support the rates rebate initiative and that by and large within the context of the challenges facing ratepayers there are some broader challenges ahead of local government. So I wanted to take this opportunity to express that as we as a Government meet the challenge of the increasing costs on ratepayers and the reliance of councils on rates. Our decisions in coming up to embark on an inquiry to better address what might be available to local government to better meet the expectations of ratepayers and not relying on rates is a key area of focus for our Government.So with that said I commend the Local Government and Environment Committee who put in quite a bit of work on the bill. I commend the officials of the select committee who have provided advice and certainly the Department of Internal Affairs officials who have helped with some of the transitional practical arrangements for the bill. It's very pleasing to see that the Opposition members have now been able to find themselves supporting this particular bill. Kia ora tātou.Bill read a third time."