Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): This is a good bill and we support it. It's an example of a bill that is much better for the select committee process that in this case inserted the changes of Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) 293 and it's those that I want to focus on in this contribution. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well I just point out that this is a second reading which is not where we discuss in great detail SOPs. I've allowed people to talk about them but you're heralding that you're going to spend your five minutes on the SOP. That's the committee of the whole House stage.NICOLA WILLIS: This SOP has been incorporated into the bill as a whole in the select committee process.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Oh OK—OK.NICOLA WILLIS: So the bill now as it stands includes a section that closely mirrors the objectives of my member's bill which remains in the ballot today because I want to see this bill passed and when it's passed I will withdraw that bill. That bill is the KiwiSaver (Compassionate Consideration) Amendment Bill and I lodged it in December 2018. I lodged that bill to remedy an injustice in the law which prevents some people from accessing the KiwiSaver funds they have worked hard to save. I like others in the Parliament had been moved by the submission of Tim Fairhall and his mother Joan who had pointed out that injustice in the law as it currently is and as this bill will correct. As others have discussed Tim has Down syndrome. He by virtue of that condition is likely to have a shorter lifespan than most of us. He has worked hard throughout his life in his job at Countdown and he has like many of us made ongoing contributions to KiwiSaver. So it was his position that he should be able to access those funds before he was 65 and yet the law as it currently stands prevents him doing that. Of course his fear was that he would not access those funds before he died. I went to visit Tim before Christmas in 2018. I went down to the West Coast where he lives with his mum and dad and we talked about why it was so important to him and others like him to be able to make withdrawals in these sorts of circumstances. He was really clear. There were experiences he wanted to have before he died and one of those experiences was that he wanted to visit his brother in Italy and he wanted to visit his friend Thomas in Canada and he wanted to see again Thomas's son Noah who he hadn't seen since he was three. As his mum Joan said this is Tim's money. He's earned it; he's saved it. He saved it with a particular goal in mind and it's important he has a goal to look forward to.So I commend Minister Faafoi's Supplementary Order Paper because it creates a new mechanism so that Tim and others with life-shortening conditions like him can make withdrawals and can access the funds that they have worked hard to save. Like my member's bill it creates a system that sits alongside the existing provisions which allow people to withdraw KiwiSaver funds for reasons of financial hardship or terminal illness.I do want to point out that we could've done this a long time ago. When my bill was first introduced the Minister was still saying this wasn't the right thing to do and this has taken time. We do in this Parliament sometimes take more time to decide to work together than we need to. But I'm not going to lament that much further today because here we are and we are doing the right thing. We are working together to pass a change that is just and that is right.I want to commend two specific changes the Finance and Expenditure Committee has made. The first is they have changed what was suggested by the Minister which was that people in these circumstances would have to attest to retiring from taking any paid income in order to access their KiwiSaver. That would've been wrong because that would have stopped Tim working at Countdown if he was accessing his KiwiSaver funds and actually he loves that job. A lot of people get a lot of purpose from their work and I really commend the committee for seeing that it is just to allow people to withdraw their funds while also working.I do pose a little concern that it restricts those who can make these withdrawals to those with congenital illnesses. I'd suggest to this House that there are others with life-shortening conditions who could potentially benefit from this clause and who would've been included in my bill. But let's all in this House think about this: the joy-filled dance that Tim gave when he was told that these changes were being made. Let's think about Joan and her support and her advocacy for her son and others like him and what they have achieved. Together parliamentarians have done the right thing. As MPs we have the power to make an enormous difference to people's lives. The changes to the KiwiSaver withdrawal system do that. This is a good bill. It's for you Tim.