Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Deputy Speaker. A real pleasure for me to stand and speak to the KiwiSaver (Foster Parents Opting in for Children in their Care) Amendment Bill in its second reading tonight. As we've heard this is a member's bill in the name of Hamish Walker and today is the second time I have spoken to a bill that's had its origins in the Southland electorate. The first one today was the Gore District Council (Otama Rural Water Supply) Bill so I'm wondering if there is something indeed in the water in Southland that generates so much legislation.Now this bill came about when Hamish Walker was approached by one of his constituents who has had no end of barriers in applying for a KiwiSaver account for a child in their care. Now we heard from Hamish Walker in his first reading speech about this particular family and a real-life example was the grandfather who wanted to ensure that all his grandchildren including his foster grandchildren were taken care of by him into their future and as a result wanted to open for them a KiwiSaver account. This is where they realised that actually it wasn't going to be that simple. The identification documents that are required—the IRD number and the birth certificate—found to be quite a struggle for them to achieve. So it was this trigger that has brought this piece of legislation to us tonight.We would've thought that for any of us to get a birth certificate or an IRD number would be quite a simple process but actually for these foster children it is not. In fact for the people that have been trying it is impossible. Because the children are in the State care under the guardianship of the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki that chief executive is the caregiver so therefore is the only person that can apply for those IRD numbers or the birth certificate and so even to open a bank account is proving difficult for some of these children in care. We do appreciate and respect the burden of work that the social workers and indeed the chief executive have. So in terms of priorities we found that the issuing of a birth certificate or IRD number or opening a KiwiSaver account simply did not find its way to the top of the work pile and so languishes. One family that we heard from during the submission period had tried three times over 2½ years to open a KiwiSaver account that so far they still have not achieved it.The significance of the bill that we're discussing tonight is important because it will ensure that those children who find themselves in the care of foster parents are receiving the same rights and privileges as other kids. Now this bill will ensure that the kids who need the support the most those within the Oranga Tamariki system are getting the future support that they deserve. I thank my colleague Hamish Walker for responding to a real need in a very special portion of our communities—these children who are under the care of Oranga Tamariki. I believe that KiwiSaver is a universal right for Kiwis that you know we are entitled to have our savings secured that they are not able to be accessed by anyone else and that we have the security there accumulating for our retirement. We actually did hear one heartbreaking story from one family who told us that the child in their care had part-time jobs had saved up about a thousand dollars in cash—now that was a huge amount of money—but unfortunately the money was not secure. He had it in cash he had it hidden but an unfortunate other family member got their hands on it and it was stolen.These kids that came to talk to us and submitted to us told us as my colleague has mentioned other heartfelt stories about why they feel that they deserve the right to have a KiwiSaver account opened in their name by foster parents. They want their savings protected they want it tamper-proof and they want it there for if they choose at some point to buy their first home to realise the Kiwi Dream of owning their home or to have it there accumulating for their retirement. But of course these kids aren't getting the same service that other kids are and there seems to be an assumption within the banking sector and with the KiwiSaver providers that all applicants are going to come from what I might call regular families where they have access to the documentation that is required to open these accounts. But of course we know now that they are not. The 6400 children in this country that live in foster care families deserve the same support in terms of their KiwiSaver. Now we did hear from officials during the select committee process that were directly involved in the system but I believe the ones that had the loudest voice were the young people themselves. We had some come along and speak to us and you know one story that has stayed with me was from a young man who said to us that he simply wants to be treated like every other kid. He wants the same right to have his savings go into this account and one of the recurring themes that came from these young submitters was the voicelessness that they felt. They felt like when they go into care they have lost their identity and that was the words of one of the young submitters from VOYCE. He said We lose our identity." They cannot get the documents to prove who they are and then they cannot move forward into getting these accounts opened.We've heard from my colleague about the feedback that we had around the whittling away of the KiwiSaver account through fees but we have also had assurance that there are providers that will waive their fees and Simplicity has been mentioned—they do waive all of their management fees at least for the first five years to get the account built up. I am aware that there are other providers who will do that. In fact I had a similar arrangement with a KiwiSaver provider quite a few years ago when I ran a campaign to get all of the children pre-schoolers and schoolchildren enrolled in KiwiSaver when it first happened. We brought millions of dollars into the western district by doing that and we now have hundreds and hundreds of children enrolled in KiwiSaver. Their money is protected their future is secure and because they have been in there for quite some time now—must be maybe coming up to nine or 10 years—when they get to the point where they want to buy their first home they will be able to take advantage of the HomeStart programme and withdraw some of those funds.Now while it's true that around 500 children will benefit from the bill that we have in front of us today there are over 6000 other children who are going to miss out because of the technicalities that we have. I am sure that we'll have a further debate on those other issues as Hamish Walker submits his Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) when we come to the committee of the whole House stage and I do encourage colleagues across the House to think kindly of those SOPs so that we can open the door to all of these other children in care.The submitters from VOYCE—we had three young submitters from VOYCE. They were very articulate very confident young people and they had quite an impact on me and I'm sure they did on the whole committee. What I'd like to implore from members across the House is to recall the message that they gave us. They simply want to be treated as all other children in this country. They want to know that their savings are going to be safe and secure and they want to know that when it comes to the time that they can buy their first home they do have access to the funds that they have saved so diligently for. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker."