SpeechHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): Not only could I do that could I ask the Minister now to take off her hat as children's Minister and put on the seniors hat. Of course we have touched on COVID and COVID was a big discussion during the Estimates hearing for seniors. The reason I think this is so important is of course seniors were the group in our community most affected in the most serious ways by COVID. So could I ask the Minister—and we did touch on this in the Estimates hearing—to update us on the issues that related to seniors during lockdown in access to health services accessing prescriptions and in particular what I'm interested in knowing is the impact of deferred surgeries and the planning that is now being done because obviously there's a huge impact on the health system for that. What advice has she now received about the impact on waiting lists of deferred surgeries for seniors? What has she learnt about the further physical and mental suffering and deterioration that seniors have experienced during that period? And what recommendations is she now making to the Minister of Health and the Ministry of Health about how seniors may be cared for better should we God forbid find ourselves suffering another pandemic or perhaps going into regional lockdown?Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Seniors): Thank you. I thank the member for his question. He will be aware from the Estimates that the Office for Senior Citizens has a very small budget so therefore most of what we do we do on the smell of an oily rag and we actually do it with a very loud voice.So to address some of the questions that the member asked with regard to our seniors during the lockdown period it became necessary for a member of the Office for Senior Citizens to be placed on the crisis committee to make sure that they were constant that view of seniors was brought to any decision around what we were doing as a nation to protect all of the 5 million. I think what was wonderful to see out the other side of it and part of this was actually—and this does go to the Estimates and the budget that is there for the Office for Senior Citizens—the promotion of those NGOs iwi organisations Māori organisations who stepped up to deliver services to our seniors to make sure that we had fewer suffering from isolation and loneliness during that time and made sure that they were able to be supported to get food medicines and so on and so forth.With regard to the second part of the member's question which is around health services I have seen a paper recently and I don't think the Minister of Health has spoken yet around the Government's response to the delay due to COVID of elective surgeries. So I hoped that the Minister of Health would be here. There is obviously a mix of age demographics inside that elective surgery delay—that pool of people who have not been able to gain the surgeries that they might need—but the Minister of Health has as I say presented a paper just recently to Cabinet and I hope that he will be able to inform the member in more detail inside the health Estimates.Hon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): I thank the Minister for those answers. Could I turn now to the issue of a champion for the elderly which of course has been given considerable public weight through the petition from Mark Sainsbury. I note that all three parties in the current coalition and confidence and supply arrangement in Government were committed coming into office to the creation of that office; and yet three years later Minister nothing has happened. So I'm wondering whether you could explain why that is and whether perhaps that commitment is going to be renewed by the current parties because it is a matter that is of considerable interest at every Grey Power meeting or event of that type that I attend. It's the question that I'm asked and I'm sure she is as well.Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Seniors): Minister Salesa actually has responsibility as the Associate Minister of Health and has done some preparatory work around a health commissioner to do with a specific focus on the aged. Unfortunately as she was working through that piece of work COVID happened and so many pieces of work needed to be placed on hold during that period of time. What I can say to the member is I do believe that every party in the current Government is dedicated to having an advocate and representative on behalf of what is going to be one-fifth of our population by 2036. There is a difference of opinion between different parties. And I think Mr Sainsbury's petition was more around one focused specifically on aged healthcare. Myself I have already advocated from the Office for Seniors that actually we need to reallocate the $8 million that is set aside for the Financial Capability Commissioner and return that commissioner to being a Retirement Commissioner with responsibility similar to the Children's Commissioner for advocacy and monitoring. So at this stage unfortunately due to COVID we have not been able to progress but there has been conversation and work done by the Government on that particular issue.Hon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West): I thank the Minister and in fact she has to some extent anticipated one of my next questions. I would make the point that I think she just referred to one-fifth of the population. In fact now about one-quarter of the New Zealand population can expect to live their lives in retirement after the age of 65. So clearly this is a very significant group and as I say a very significant issue.Could I just ask her very quickly what her thinking is as to whether or not if it were to be created it would be done so as a stand-alone position similar to the Children's Commissioner or maybe one under the umbrella of the Human Rights Commission the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner the Ministry of Health and such?Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Seniors): I thank the member. I think the fact that there's going to be 1.2 million New Zealanders over the age of 65 by 2036 in my view it needs to be a stand-alone commissioner similar to the Children's Commissioner with advocacy rights independent of Government but to Government and also with monitoring rights over retirement villages and rest homes. I believe that the Ombudsman's recently given powers at the moment around dementia wards is appropriate for the place for that to stay and I believe that the Financial Capability Commissioner's role has been superseded by other roles. So therefore there is a budget that could be switched across for an independent office similar to the Children's Commissioner.