Sepuloni CarmelNEW ZEALAND SUPERANNUATION AND VETERAN'S PENSION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): I move That the New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's Pension Legislation Amendment Bill be now read a second time.I know that all members understand how important New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension are to older New Zealanders. This is a bill that emphasizes and contributes to the sustainability of the core settings that are of greatest importance to older New Zealanders while reflecting changes in how New Zealanders live and participate in the workforce across Aotearoa New Zealand today. It achieves this by moving towards basing entitlement to New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension on individual circumstances while retaining higher rates for single people. Alongside that the bill also makes changes to several other superannuation and veterans pension settings to bring them into the present day and improve their clarity and consistency.One of the bill's more substantive changes is that it closes the option for superannuitants to include their non-qualified partner in their rate of entitlement. Superannuitants who are already including their non-qualified partner will be grandparented so will be unaffected by this change. It's important for me to note that this provision originated at a time when sole mainly male breadwinner families were more common and mandatory retirement ages were an accepted part of working life. Before the breadwinner retired the other partner would be expected to rely on his earnings and after he had to retire they could be expected to rely on his superannuation. I'm glad to say that times have changed since then and often our older couples are both in employment compulsory retirement ages are a thing of the past and both individuals in a couple can work past the superannuation qualification age if they are able and wish to. This particular change helps us to remove some of these antiquated assumptions about participation in the workforce and bring this legislation into line with modern New Zealand.Complementing the closure of the non-qualified partner provision the bill also removes what's known as spousal deduction. The change will mean that superannuitants don't have their own entitlement including both their pension and their winter energy payment reduced by their partner's overseas pension. Spousal deduction was intended to ensure that all couples have the same level of Government-administered retirement income but it's come to be seen as unfairly impacting the rate of New Zealand superannuation based on their partner's overseas entitlement.In addition to these changes the bill also includes a number of other minor clarifications. The bill expands eligibility to the single living alone rate to people in self-contained mobile homes. It also allows people who carry out voluntary humanitarian work overseas for a New Zealand charity or affiliated organisation to count this time toward the resident's requirements for New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension. The bill ensures that people don't have their superannuation affected by part of an overseas pension that's based on voluntary contributions. It provides legislative protection for the current practise of setting net superannuation rates at no less than 66 percent of the average ordinary time weekly wage after tax. And it consolidates provisions relating to the special disability allowance paid to partners of people in residential care in the Social Security Act.At the committee of the whole House I will be introducing a Supplementary Order Paper that will amend the commencement dates for the bill. This proposes that the bill commence on 9 November 2020. This has been necessary to allow the Ministry of Social Development to respond rapidly to COVID-19. I'd like to thank all the members of the Social Services and Community Committee for their attention to this bill and also to thank each of the submitters who took the time to write to and speak to the committee. I'm very pleased that the select committee has come together to make a number of important amendments to the bill that will see it work more effectively. One submitter drew attention to the anomaly that superannuation would still be affected by an overseas pension paid to or on behalf of a superannuitant's dependent. This isn't a situation that happens often—once in perhaps the last 10 years—but it's still important to address. Under the current legislation superannuation won't be paid to provide for a superannuitant's partner or their children just for the superannuitant themselves. So an amendment to stop these overseas pensions for dependents from affecting superannuation is a welcome addition.There've also been some changes to help the closure of the non-qualified partner provision work as intended. These include amendments to help clarify what happens to the partner of someone who's hospitalised for 13 weeks or more. The change is to ensure that when one partner has their super or main benefit reduced while they're in hospital their partner and the community always gets effectively the single rate of super or their main benefit. This is needed because the two Acts currently only cover the situation where both partners receive payments under the same Act and in future we'll see more couples receiving payments under different Acts.There's also a change to the income tests that apply to a beneficiary whose partner receives veterans pension. At the moment that beneficiary would get a harsher income test than a beneficiary whose partner receives New Zealand superannuation. That doesn't make sense. So I'm pleased that the committee has recommended improving the situation for partners of veterans so that they are treated the same as partners of superannuitants.The bill will provide relief to superannuitants who are affected by their partner's overseas pension some of whom currently receive no or very little New Zealand superannuation as a result and a number of whom shared their stories with the committee. The closure of the non-qualified partner provision and the removal of spousal deduction emphasised the core settings for New Zealand superannuation: that it is available from age 65 for citizens and residents who meet the residents requirements that rates maintain a relationship with wages and that it is not subject to an income or asset test. Those settings are certainly worth protecting. So those are what we've chosen to emphasise in this bill. The outcomes that we want to endure for the future. I commend this bill to the House.