Logie Jan: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:555. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green):I rise to take a short call in support of the Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill. I want to frame most of my speech around an example that was reported in the New Zealand Herald in 2012 of a Cook Islands - born man Bill Framhein who is now in his early 70s. He had paid tax for 34 years in New Zealand while never being out of work while he was in this country. He had served in the New Zealand Army in Malaya and Borneo and served four tours of duty in Viet Nam as a scout who is the person who goes up front and finds explosives and mines. This man after all of that commitment to New Zealand is not eligible for a war pension or superannuation because he does not meet the criteria on two bases: firstly that he was not living in New Zealand—that he has already returned to the Cook Islands; and secondly that he has not lived in New Zealand for 5 full years since the age of 50. Even with the passing of this bill Bill who had served four tours of duty in Viet Nam served in Malay and Borneo and paid tax for 34 years still will not be eligible for New Zealand superannuation.Alfred Ngaro: He’s already got it. He actually got it in 2013.JAN LOGIE: He got it in 2013 I hear. So how was that despite not meeting the criteria? [Interruption] I welcome hearing about that. I look forward to that discussion in the select committee. I found his example really moving—the media reporting of it around how it was not possible to break the rules for one person and how he had been coming back to New Zealand for 6 months in every year just to be able to try to meet the criteria despite having deep-vein thrombosis and it being quite risky for his life to be doing all that travel. He made the point in that situation and this does apply to everyone to whom this legislation will apply that he was not angry just a bit sad. It hurt him to realise that he was no longer treated like a New Zealander because he thought a Cook Islander was a New Zealander and for him to now be treated as a refugee when he had signed up for national service accepting the fact that he owed that duty as a New Zealander was hard.That does seem to hold quite a deep truth in terms of the relationship New Zealand has had with the realm countries over the last successive decades or generations. Those people from the Cooks and Niue and Tokelau who felt and feel as New Zealanders were called upon as New Zealanders to act and yet so many conditions were put on the basic entitlements that we all consider do come with our citizenship that it meant they were not able to access them despite the commitments they had made to this country.I do just want to touch on some of the benefits of this scheme being able to encourage people to get back home at the age of 55 when they still have plenty of life and skill to contribute to countries. I think that will really help stimulate the economies. Niue is an example where the population is estimated to be now down to about 1500 people and where most of the economy is reliant on remittances and aid from New Zealand. So to be able to enable people to go home and actually participate in the economy will be of benefit. I just hope it does not result in a reduction in aid from New Zealand. We support this bill.