Guy Nathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Amendment Bill War Pensions Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Guy Nathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Amendment Bill War Pensions Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:632;Page:3918] 
NATHAN GUY (National) 
: 
 I speak in favour of this legislation but in doing so I would like to raise quite a few points. I reside up in the Horowhenua-Kapiti region which has per capita the highest number of over-65s in the country. So this legislation is of great significance to those aged over 65 in that particular region. 
This legislation has been 5 years in coming. It has taken 5 years for this Government to acknowledge what was simply pathetic. I thank Nick Smith the MP for Nelson very much. He is a hard-working man who actually represented— 
Hon David Benson-Pope 
: 1995! 
NATHAN GUY 
: I can handle the interjections from Mr Benson-Pope. We all know he likes to bully people. That member will not be bullying me so I will carry on. The member from Nelson Dr Nick Smith is working hard for 91-year-old Mr Page whose wife was in long-term residential care because she had Alzheimer’s. When Mr Page tried to get the single living alone allowance he was told he should seek a divorce. How terrible is that? It is an anomaly that if a civil union couple applied for that allowance that would be fine. So I thank Nick Smith for raising this issue and bringing it into the House. But it has taken 5 years to get the legislation to where it is today. It is pretty lightweight legislation so I struggle to see why it has taken so long to come through the House. It is good legislation but I cannot believe that it was not taken in urgency. 
It is interesting to note that the legislation will help 2000 war veterans—there are about 6000 of them in this country. We need to take our hats off to those people who have served in uniform and represented our country in wars that happened before my time. We need to acknowledge that and this legislation goes some way towards doing so. 
 The increase will be small—$60 a week—but it will be significant. It will lift the allowance from approximately $200 to $263. That increase will be introduced in a couple of days’ time which is fantastic. But we need to bear in mind that superannuitants are getting walloped by higher taxes and higher petrol power and food costs. This legislation goes some way towards addressing those costs for people who are living alone. We all know that the costs for people living alone or living together where one partner is in long-term residential care are fixed no matter whether one or two people are living in the house. I think that that is a significant point. 
It is amazing that this cold callous Government turned down the amendment to backdate this measure to July 2004. The cost to backdate the measure would be $600000 but—hello—that amendment was turned down. This amount when taken in the context of the $1.5 billion package for Working for Families and the $1 billion package for interest-free student loans is a drop in the bucket for the Government. But no the amendment was turned down by a cold and callous Government that knows best. 
This legislation also covers people on voluntary service abroad. Every year about 40 people choose to travel overseas and help out in other countries voluntarily. It is great that they will be captured in this bill. It is interesting that under the old regime those volunteers were covered for a year but they put up their hands to ask to be covered for 2 years. The Government chose in its wisdom to allow them to go overseas for 3 years which is fantastic. So we have a bit of an anomaly there in that a certain group of people said it would be great if their service could be acknowledged for 2 years but the Government chose to fund them for 3 years even though they did not ask for that. The cost of that particular item is about $266000 in 2006 moving up to $300000 in 2008 which is fantastic. 
The overriding issue in relation to this bill that has not been covered tonight is the fantastic job caregivers do and they should be acknowledged for that. Right now caregivers are choosing to leave the sector because of rising fuel prices and the fact that they are being rewarded with only the basic wage. That needs to be acknowledged because on the day the price of petrol rose by 6c recently 300 resignations were tendered. So caregivers work in a forgotten sector and they need to be rewarded for the true value of their work. Let us not forget that caregivers use their own vehicles to travel to look after clients in their homes. So they cover their own registration fuel and vehicle costs and they get no travel subsidy. The Government says caregivers do get a travel subsidy. It says that it has given the money to the district health boards. Well in the MidCentral District Health Board area no money is flowing through to the caregivers. I am working hard to ensure that caregivers get a fairer go for the job they do—firstly with fair wages and secondly with a fair travel allowance. 
This is good legislation. It has taken 5 years to get to this stage. It will allow those who have chosen to represent our country in wars to age with dignity and have a better quality of life. It was through the hard work of the National Party and our MP for Nelson that this legislation came to the House and it will be fantastic when it is rolled out in a couple of days’ time on 1 July. 
To sum up this legislation will target the 2000 war veterans for whom an anomaly exists if the husband or wife is living in long-term residential care. It is important that those people are acknowledged. We all know that the costs of running a house continue to go up with rates power running vehicles etc. as well as the high tax take that the Government imposes on a whole lot of beneficiaries. This legislation will reward the people who have served our country and it is thanks to the National Party that it is in the House tonight and will be rolled out in a few days’ time. 
Bills read a third time.