Coleman Jonathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans' Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans' Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:631;Page:3517] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to speak on Part 2 which deals with amendments to the War Pensions Act of 1954 and consequential amendments to that Act. It is quite appropriate that Part 2 will deliver something in this the Year of the Veteran. Veterans have made a major contribution to New Zealand society. They are people whom we should honour and cherish right through their old age and until their dying days. 
I also want to acknowledge a lady who has not been mentioned so far in this debate—Barbara White. She is a lady who brought a petition to the Social Services Committee I believe it was 4½ years ago. I must say I think the Minister missed a splendid opportunity as the sponsor of this bill to pay tribute to that lady because it takes quite some bravery for a member of the public to come before a select committee and present a petition. I think we should acknowledge her contribution. 
I was disappointed that when the Minister spoke on this bill he did not take the opportunity to say something positive and Labour members degenerated into a stream of bile directed towards the National Party. This is legislation that all the parties are supporting and it will deliver something positive for New Zealanders. In the spirit of that legislation this is a good opportunity to say something positive. I note too that this bill deals with Volunteer Service Abroad issues. I have had the honour over the past week of going on the Pacific mission with the Minister of Foreign Affairs up to Vanuatu—an area of the Pacific that is really— 
Christopher Finlayson 
: Did he behave himself? 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Well actually he did behave himself. He represented us with dignity. It was an insight into the workload of Ministers. I see one Minister over there reading a newspaper. I thought Ministers would be working all the time on the plane on the way up and they would have a big red box full of papers that they would be wading through. I would like to report the Minister watched  
Wedding Crashers 
 on the way up— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order that has nothing to do with the call. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: —and did the  
Cook Islands Times  
crossword on the way back. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order or I will terminate the member’s speech. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: To get back to the subject of Vanuatu and Volunteer Service Abroad Vanuatu is a region totally dependent on input from volunteers and there are a number of older New Zealanders who are putting something back into the community in their retirement years by serving in places like that. It gave me great pride as the member of Parliament for Northcote to be up there for the opening of the tuberculosis ward of the Vanuatu Hospital—a hospital staffed by Volunteer Service Abroad people in part. Members from my electorate were there and they had done a tremendous amount of work—including Mr Ron King from Birkenhead—in establishing that tuberculosis ward. It brought me a great deal of pride to be present as a member of Parliament at the opening of the ward but I digress slightly. 
To support the Pacific area we need to support our Volunteer Service Abroad workers. Many of those people are retired and I think it is a very positive thing that this bill will increase the entitlement for superannuitants who want to work in Volunteer Service Abroad from the current 1 year to 3 years. That is something pretty positive. But I want to make the point that has been alluded to previously that Mr Nick Smith has made a significant contribution in making sure this legislation came before the House. When we were talking about Part 1— 
Jill Pettis 
: What took him so long? 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Sorry it is Dr Nick Smith. What took him so long? We have heard what took the Labour Government so long to get this here. We have covered that well I say to Mrs Pettis and this will not affect her pension entitlements. 
Jill Pettis 
: Good. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Good I know the member is very pleased about that. Dr Smith was a driving force in bringing this before the House and getting it here today. The point I made was that this was a National Party driven bill and it has now been picked up by the Government—very much in the same way that the National Party was going to take the petrol tax and put it straight into roading and lo and behold that is now Government policy. Very much in the same way that at the next election tax cuts will be Government policy as well. This is another example of National driving the agenda. 
I make a further point that if we had been able to deliver those tax cuts superannuitants would be better off by $1200 a year in the hand. The reason for that is that the pension is based on the average wage. We know that with the tax cuts that National will deliver for all New Zealanders the average wage will go up. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to you Mr Benson-Pope that with your eligibility for a pension in 4 years your pension will go up as well. So you will benefit and when you support tax cuts at the next election you will find that you will be better off too. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order you are bringing the Chairman into the debate.