Collins Judith: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Collins Judith: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:639;Page:9195] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 Unlike the Minister who has just sat down I do not intend to indulge in 10 minutes’ worth of personal abuse because that is certainly about all we got from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We got an awful lot of talk about the veterans card and the SuperGold card neither of which by the way is mentioned in this legislation. The legislation is called the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How do you know? 
JUDITH COLLINS 
: The Minister asks how I know. I know because I was the deputy chair of the Social Services Committee and I also know because I can read. 
One of the things we can say about this bill is that it does not apply just to those two aforementioned cards—we have never seen those cards for a start. It applies to all social security entitlement cards should any be issued and that is something the public needed to know about. 
I thought it was actually quite lacking in generosity for the Minister not to acknowledge the fact that the National Party has supported this bill all the way through yet all we got was a whole lot of abuse. He should note that this bill does not deliver exactly what he says it does. What he does not understand is that this bill will entitle a social welfare Minister or an equivalent Minister to put out a card containing the microchipped details of all unemployment beneficiaries or all domestic purposes beneficiaries. If the State is to do that then I think it is probably something the public should know about. I am not saying that we oppose it; I am saying that we think the public should have known about it. 
That is why last week National members worked with other members of this Parliament including the Maori Party United Future Taito Phillip Field the Greens and the ACT party to make sure that Taito Phillip Field’s amendment came through. We wanted to make sure there was some overview from the Privacy Commissioner and the State Services Commission. It was an instance of some of the parties in this House working together to deal with an issue National members had raised legitimately in the select committee. The issue is that when we are to have microchips inserted into cards we need to know what it is all about who will be affected what information will be on those cards and also how the privacy of people will be protected. 
Most members in this House felt that point was legitimate. By working together they were able to make the Government and New Zealand First sit up take notice and go along with that because they had the numbers. I notice that the member Russell Fairbrother chortles hugely but it is true—61 happens to be more than 60 by anyone’s count I say to Mr Fairbrother and members worked together to make sure that happened. 
What did members get for the hours they spent on this bill? They got abuse from the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is very very angry because quite clearly the man does not understand that this bill does not relate just to a veterans card or to a SuperGold card. Neither of those cards is mentioned; the bill actually relates to any entitlement card for social security beneficiaries. As I said before we do not necessarily have a problem with that. It is something we would always have to look at take back to caucus and discuss. The problem is that this had not been known to the public until the media put it on the front page of the  
New Zealand Herald  
last week. The point was picked up by the media because they suddenly realised that the SuperGold card was in fact a microchipping ID card by stealth. That was the problem. 
I take the Minister’s assurances that this bill will be meant only for the veterans card and the SuperGold card but I would ask the House why that is not actually stated in this bill. Why has this bill been allowed to be open slather in terms of those entitlement cards with no restrictions at all until we got that amendment through last week to make sure that there was some overview? 
We would like to see veterans be able to have some acknowledgment for their service through this bill. Although many veterans simply said to me that the SuperGold card is a Clayton’s card I think they should probably wait and see what actually comes from it because apparently they will be able to get discounts from some commercial entities and possibly even discounts on rates. Many other national superannuitants have said that for them it is just like the old-age pension card and that they can get a bus pass. 
Many people feel that the card will not actually deliver what it has been promoted as delivering. Also the veterans and old-age pensioners will be asking whether this card will get them their hip operations their knee operations and their cataract operations done in time. Will they get preference? They feel after many many years that they probably deserve a bit of preference in the hospital system. 
If one looks at the National Party policy on veterans one will certainly see that in 2005 we said we believed that that was exactly what should happen for our veterans and that they deserved to be acknowledged for the work they did for their country and for the fact that they risked their lives for us. As I have said we will support this bill. We have supported it through its passage but we have had concerns. I am glad that those concerns have been listened to in the House and I am glad that we have been able to come to a reasonable amendment.