Wall Louisa: Veterans’ Support Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWall Louisa: Veterans’ Support Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 30 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19716. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]LOUISA WALL (Labour—Manurewa):Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak on the third reading of the Veterans’ Support Bill. Firstly I would like to acknowledge that on 4 August we will mark the centenary of New Zealand’s entering into the First World War. We had 103000 New Zealanders serve overseas 59500 casualties and 18200 New Zealanders who gave their lives for our country.The history of this bill is really interesting and I will go through it because I think it is important. We are here because in 2003 the Health Committee had an inquiry into agent orange and it was very much inspired by our Viet Nam vets and the state of well-being of our Viet Nam vets. One of the recommendations from that select committee inquiry was for a review of the veterans pension.What happened was that a memorandum of understanding was entered into by the Government the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association and the Ex-Vietnam Services Association. In 2007 the Law Commission was empowered to conduct that review. It had 170 recommendations of which 132 were accepted. One was not and I actually want to focus my whole speech on the one that was not. That was recommendation 95 and I would like to read it. It was that “All veterans with qualifying operational service should be eligible for the Veteran’s Pension regardless of whether they have received impairment compensation.”Currently to receive the veterans pension you have to be 70 percent disabled. That translates through to the new legislation as 52 percent disabled. So if you are 52 percent disabled—or 70 percent disabled as in the current legislation—you receive as a veterans pensioner first a community services card; second payments continue if you have a stay of 13 weeks - plus in hospital; and third a funeral grant. Can I say that that call for all veterans to be eligible for a veterans pension actually came from the 1960s. The RSA has been calling for all veterans to receive a veterans pension since the 1960s.It was interesting to read the Law Commission report because it actually said that the veterans pension was premised on four principles. One was about service to our country the second was about actual economic loss the third was about economic need and the fourth was about disability. So of course disability was part of the equation and I see the latest iteration of disability is that it is also an active responsibility of the Government to provide rehabilitation under this piece of legislation which I think is an extension.But if we go back right to the beginning of New Zealand’s history of providing pensions to our war veterans it actually started in 1866. That legislation was called the Military Pensions Act. The Military Pensions Act was really interesting because what it did was have a panel of doctors who made an assessment about whether you were deserving or not. The really interesting commentary on that piece of legislation was that it actually had lower rates for Māori veterans than for Pākehā veterans so it says something about the history of the time and how we regarded the different types of veterans. The ethos as it was in 1590—I mentioned this in my second reading speech—was very much a charitable response by the Government. I picked up on that Queen Elizabeth I quote about “the fruit of their good deserving” so we wanted to make sure that the deserving were catered for.There was another iteration of the Military Pensions Act and that happened in the War Pensions Act 1915. In that iteration we actually created boards that decided whether people were eligible and what type of support they were eligible for. It was at that time that we corrected the differences between Māori and Pākehā pensioners and said no they all deserved to receive the same level of support. Then in 1943 there was another update of the War Pensions Act and we improved the rates and we improved the process. So there was an ongoing conversation between the RSA and the Government about the needs of our war pensioners.From 1951 we integrated our response as a Government into the social security system but it was interesting at that time because the veterans association the media and a commission of inquiry actually created the War Pensions Act 1954. The interesting thing about the history of the evolution of our recognition of the support that our war pensioners deserved is that it also gave rise to regulation 45 of the War Pensions Regulations 1956. In fact that is where funeral expenses came from. That is where as a qualifying veterans pensioner you were eligible to get the funeral grant.The commentary from the Law Commission is relevant because it said that our veterans deserve to be treated with a generosity of spirit in return for their sacrifice to New Zealand. The three things that they have got—the community services card a continuation of the payment of their veterans pension if they go into hospital and a funeral grant—were actually in recognition of the effects on the quality of life for veterans. It was not about the level of disability; it was actually about recognition of the sacrifice—being away from your family being away from home not getting further educated the ongoing loss. It was a small token of appreciation above anything else.So what I find offensive I guess as a member of the Social Services Committee is that during this process we have changed the criteria. We have said that now all veterans will get the veterans pension so I think that this House has demonstrated that democracy does work. But with one hand we have given and with the other hand we have taken away because now you receive that funeral grant only if you are 52 percent disabled. The rationale for that is money pure and simple. It is all about the money and I find that—Hon Michael Woodhouse: It’s all right. We won’t raise the pension age to 67.LOUISA WALL: Do you know what? You can get a veterans pension before 65 so age is irrelevant. What the issue is with what we are going to pass tonight as a Parliament is that we are going to say you all deserve a veterans pension but that there are aspects of qualifying for a veterans pension that mean that we will give you a funeral grant when you die but you have to be 52 percent disabled.Like my colleagues I support this bill 100 percent and I want to thank the New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association for its hard work and dedication in getting us to this point in time. I would like to acknowledge Veterans Affairs New Zealand and all our officials who have brought us to this point in time. I want to say that as a member of the select committee who sat through the submissions and who was formally part of this process it has been a privilege to hear from the veterans themselves how important this piece of legislation is.I know that on Monday all of us wherever we are will be acknowledging that it is 100 years since World War I started. It is slightly ironic that all of this is happening at this time. I do think that it is very mean-spirited of us to impose a new qualification so that some of those who receive the veterans pension will not be eligible for the funeral grant that has been in place and has been a part of that particular pension since 1956 as I highlighted.I commend this bill to the House. I want to acknowledge the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs. I know that he is a bit upset with me but the reality is that for our side of the House—all of us from the Greens Labour and New Zealand First who sat on this select committee—this was one of the big issues that we tried so hard to get consensus on. To have failed to do that is I think commentary about the time and it is commentary about the prioritisation of this Government. Kia ora.Bill read a third time.