Flavell Te Ururoa: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:638;Page:8755] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
Tena koe Mr Assistant Speaker kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. I te meakuatakiwhakatatatouingarakuahipaakenei me mihi ra ki o tatou mate kuahingaingawiki e torukuahipaake. Ko Don Selwyn tera ko Bob Rawiritera ko te tini ko te manokuahingairungai o tatou marae. Ko takunoaake ko te poroporoaki i a ratou haere haere haere koutou.  
Huri mai ki a tatou katoa e te Whare tatoukua hoki mai ki roto ingapakitara o te Whare tena koutou tena koutou kia ora tatou. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and to all of us in the House. Because we have rested well during the days in the 3 weeks past it is fitting that we acknowledge those of us who passed away in that period—Don Selwyn Bob Rawiri and a host of others who fell on our courtyards. I want to farewell them by simply saying: depart depart depart. 
I turn to all of us in the House those of us who have returned within the confines of the Chamber: greetings to you greetings to you greetings 
.] 
It would appear from the outset that the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill has not exactly taken the nation by storm. I understand that three submissions have been received and one heard. But none the less there are two important issues that the Maori Party wants to raise in this debate.  
The first is that of the intention of the bill to improve the living standards of our senior citizens. We believe that a commitment to our elders is a worthy goal that we the Maori Party wholeheartedly accept. We all know the stats about the increasing poverty levels of elderly people in Aotearoa. The Maori Party places particular priority on valuing the contribution and continued participation of our elder people. We believe that the SuperGold card will help our pakeke to have easier access to services and facilities—as outlined by Mr Hughes—and to be able to benefit from concessions which can only be good. Such a proposal targeting the aged and elderly will ensure that we protect the special place they have in our society as repositories of experience and knowledge. In that respect this bill has our full support.  
We are happy to put forward our support also in recognition that older Maori people experience a worse health status than their non-Maori counterparts in a range of indicators. In February of this year a report produced by Public Health Intelligence the ministry’s epidemiology group revealed the grim fact that at the age of 50 years both Maori males and females had a shorter life expectancy than non-Maori. The data also revealed that Maori suffer from higher hospitalisation and mortality rates for almost all types of cardiovascular disease cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  
The weird thing is that the data also reveals that Maori males aged 50 to 64 were significantly more likely than their non-Maori counterparts to report doing physical activity—as is borne out right here I suspect in the parliamentary complex we currently sit in. For proof of this assertion all one needs to do is go down to the gym on any day and one is bound to find Mr Tau Henare—even with a push and a shove—Hone Harawira Mr Clem Simich our trusted Kaiwhakamarama Reo WiremuHaunui our loyal security guards and many other mighty Maori men working up a sweat on the treadmill. In fact I have also been known to lift a few weights sprint a couple of hundred thousand miles on the treadmill and play the odd game of rugby for the greater good of the parliamentary rugby team in my time. I have a photo to prove it by the way. But despite this we suffer shorter life expectancy. The rates for renal failure and lower limb amputation are significantly higher for Maori and the prevalence of doctor-diagnosed diabetes is over two and a half times higher in Maori males aged 50 to 64.  
We support the proposal to give effect to the SuperGold card to enable Maori seniors to be eligible for Government entitlements such as New Zealand superannuation the veterans pensions and community services card entitlements. But there is one snag and it is a biggie—namely clause 5(2). The clause amends section 132A(2) of the Social Security Act 1964 in creating a new regulation-making power. In its effect this allows the entitlement cards to contain the information as set out in the subsection on either a magnetic strip or an embedded microchip—as was spoken about by MetiriaTurei.  
Every time we access the Internet draw a salary dial the phone join a club enter a hospital hook up to Sky television or zip zap our credit cards for the weekly groceries we are giving up our rights to privacy—whether or not we know it. So we might ask: “What’s another smart card amongst many?”. The Government insists that it has no plans to implement smart-card technology in relation to the SuperGold card or indeed entitlement cards generally at this time. That is no problem. We say to the Government that it should delete the clause.  
The key issue as the New Zealand Law Society pointed out in its submission is that this will be the first time in which legislation has been introduced to authorise the use of microchips on cards on such a large scale. It has massive implications. We are talking about around 340000 seniors who already have community services cards. Why would we venture down the track of an embedded microchip that the Privacy Commissioner herself has expressed serious concerns and reservations about?  
Marie Shroff our Privacy Commissioner has asked a series of questions that take us to the very heart of the concern around privacy and personal freedom. How do individuals have any real control or choice? How will the information be kept up to date and accurate? Who will be able to access it? How could it be misused? What protections are there? Will its advantages outweigh its disadvantages? Those are all important issues that this House should consider if it wants to proceed any further along the microchip line. Indeed Miss Shroff has recommended that the proposal not proceed until a comprehensive assessment of the potential privacy impacts has been undertaken. We in the Maori Party absolutely agree with her. We have consistently raised our concerns about the snooping culture and the environment of surveillance where Big Brother is the holder of all power. We support the call from the Social Services Committee that a more general inquiry into the use of microchips particularly around issues of privacy must be undertaken before any legislation allowing microchips is enacted. We are assured by the Ministry of Social Development that if clause 5(2) were deleted from this bill there would be no immediate impacts to prevent the launching of the SuperGold card.  
Therefore we are happy to support the bill as a useful way of recognising the contribution that pakeke continue to make to Aotearoa. We most strongly object to the proposal in clause 5 relating to the microchipping function. Kia ora tatou.