Doocey Matt: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDoocey Matt: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 05 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3176. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): It is a great honour to rise for the second reading of the Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill. Can I say kia orana taloha ni and fakalofa lahi atu. I do hope I have got that right with my southern accent. I must say that I have a connection to the Cook Islands—not in the sense of ancestry but I did propose to my wife in Rarotonga. Many people go there for weddings. I went to spend some time there for a friend’s wedding and looked at the beautiful country and I thought “Here is a good place where I would very much like to propose.” My wife is actually from a landlocked country so I thought what a great opportunity it was to propose to her on a beautiful island. I can fully understand why not only people from Niue Tokelau and the Cook Islands would want to retire there but also all New Zealanders. It is great that this bill will give them the freedom and the choice to retire there without being resident and present in New Zealand at the age of 65.This bill amends rules for payments for New Zealand superannuation or veterans pensions in the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau. Currently people have to be resident and present in New Zealand at the age of 65 to apply for their New Zealand superannuation or veterans pensions. Individuals need to have spent 10 years here since the age of 20 and 5 of them after the age of 50. The change will allow applicants who live in the Cook Islands Tokelau and Niue to apply for their New Zealand superannuation or veterans pensions from these places rather than from New Zealand. The effect is that people will be able to leave New Zealand and go to live in the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau after the age of 55 rather than having to be in the country at 65 to qualify and collect their pension. This bill has been a longstanding request from leaders of the Cook Islands Tokelau and Niue. We had over a dozen submitters to this bill all favourable. As my colleague Alfred Ngaro mentioned we had some from dignitaries as well.I want to mention one group of submitters if I may and that was the Concerned Community Collective. The Concerned Community Collective is an informal group of Christchurch community leaders who are descended from people from the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau and who came together in December 2014 purely for the purpose of this bill. It was great to receive their submission. Their membership consists of approximately 30 people with the ages in the group ranging from 28 to 75 so it just shows you the appeal of this bill and the people wanting to submit. They all came from diverse background cultures and it was very important and valuable for them to be part of this process and submit on the bill. The Concerned Community Collective said that it supported the Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill and the changes it makes to the existing rules for applying for superannuation.The Concerned Community Collective and some of my parliamentary colleagues this afternoon have also talked about the unique relationship with peoples of the Realm of New Zealand with the foundation of this relationship being defined by New Zealand citizenship and nationality of these countries. They were not too happy though they say here that despite this those from these countries of the Realm have been categorised as Pacific migrants and afforded the same conditions as 19 other Pacific nations whose citizens are not New Zealand nationals. But altogether they supported the bill and its intent.We also had another submitter the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association. If I can deviate slightly it is the first time I have been able to speak in the House since Anzac Day and I will just acknowledge the sacrifice of the young men from my region of Waimakariri and of course Canterbury New Zealand and these countries as well who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms and the choices that we have in New Zealand today. As a young backpacker I was very fortunate to travel to Turkey and the Gallipoli peninsula and spend some time at Anzac Cove in reflection and also spend some time up at Chunuk Bair which we held for some small amount of time. It really hit home to me the great lengths our young people went to to protect this country and the great lengths that we must go to to ensure that they are remembered for another 100 years. I was very fortunate to be part of the preparations which included the opening of the new building for the Christchurch RSA the oldest RSA in the country; and the opening of the educational wing at Rannerdale Home and Hospital. [Interruption]Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Coming back to this bill ultimately this bill reduces the need for individuals to be resident and present in New Zealand which is a requirement for this special portability bill and very much feeds into the National Party value of freedom and choice. But as Alfred Ngaro mentioned this is not just for people from these three countries but also for all New Zealanders who will be able to go out and qualify for New Zealand superannuation or a veterans pension at the age of 65. I am thinking very much what a great place to go and retire. It could be like the Algarve or the Benidorm of the Pacific and it is great that these people will get the freedom and choice to retire to these countries. We are not talking about a large number here. It is a small number of people involved. Tokelau and Niue each have fewer than 1500 in their population. We are looking at a number of only 650 people who are receiving New Zealand superannuation in the Pacific and 300 of these people are in the Cook Islands themselves. The forecasted numbers for this benefit are about 245 people with an increase of about 16 per year.This is acknowledgment of the constitutional arrangements and that these countries are of the Realm of New Zealand. We are removing the barrier that exists for these people who have to be resident and present in New Zealand to apply for their New Zealand superannuation or veterans pensions. It gives these retirees a lot more flexibility and it is also about supporting the economic and social development of these countries. We have heard this afternoon about the effects of depopulation and it is great that these individuals will be able to retire and take their income with them. We also know about the hardship that it currently causes for people who have spent their 5 years after age 50 in New Zealand and have to return to New Zealand at age 65 and the upheaval that that causes as well. This will also be about individuals taking their cash flow to Niue Tokelau and the Cook Islands. They will be able to spend this and contribute to a range of local businesses and help to support employment. Also it is about skills and experience going back to these countries. We know for New Zealand that a lot of young people go and do their OE gain international skills and experience and bring those back to this country for our benefit as well.I must just challenge the minority view of New Zealand First. Really it has no shame to say “Compare this to the generosity of giving full New Zealand Superannuation entitlement to non-New Zealand citizens from non-reciprocal pension countries after just 10 years’ residency.” I would challenge New Zealand First to stand up and show us the data for that. Normally individuals have to spend 10 years here to get 50 percent and 20 years to get 100 percent. This is just typical migrant-bashing by New Zealand First—absolutely appalling and especially so with a bill like this.If I could conclude this bill is about freedom and choice this bill is about countries of the Realm of New Zealand and this bill is about supporting the economic development and social development of these countries. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker.