Turner Judy: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Turner Judy: Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of United Future to speak on the first reading of the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill and I will say straight up that United Future supports the first reading. 
When this bill was first tabled I thought back to the last parliamentary term when the Health Committee set about having an inquiry into the Agent Orange issue. As part of that inquiry we compared the full range of support available for veterans within New Zealand and Australia. Certainly there was a feeling by submitters to that inquiry that New Zealand veterans felt short-changed in comparison to their Anzac brothers and sisters. However when we looked closely at the pensions and entitlements we saw that the differences were minimal. But what seemed to stick in the minds of veterans was the famous gold card that Australian veterans enjoy. It seemed to me at the time that it was a very simple thing for a Government to choose to deliver a gold card for veterans and I think it is very good that New Zealand First has taken the initiative and pushed it out beyond just veterans to all seniors. We say well done to New Zealand First and we will certainly support the first reading. 
What is good about this card is the fact that it gives ordinary members of the community in businesses and social service groups the opportunity to provide discounts or additional benefits to people who are holders of a gold card. It is a way that a community can honour senior citizens and I think it is an extremely good thing. 
However I want to signal that like the Green Party I too have some concerns. They are not enough for me to oppose the first reading but I would be interested to see what the select committee comes up with and certainly I would be interested to hear what submitters say about these things. These concerns are about whether there is the need for this to be done legislatively. The student ID is a very good example of an opportunity—just through sheer policy and some resourcing—to provide a card with a photo on that allows a person a certain status. I understand that this bill takes it a step further and my criticism is that the opportunity for photographs raises a little bit of concern. 
I was over in the United Kingdom in January of this year. Just as a tourist I went and sat in the House of Lords and watched a debate about identity cards including microchipping issues and things like that. The House of Lords was I think rejecting the proposal for about the third time. The reason for that was that as they dug into it they discovered this was an incredibly expensive undertaking and almost prohibitively expensive. 
I ask the question and it would be interesting to see what comes out in the select committee about whether we need to be unleashing this potential on New Zealanders for an expensive way of developing ID cards when I think a policy and a bit of resourcing would achieve very much the same thing. I would be very interested to hear comments on that matter. I am concerned about the expense and as I think Metiria Turei mentioned whether we need this to be a legislative mechanism. I stand to be corrected on this but I do not believe we have needed legislation for things like the community services card yet it works pretty effectively. 
I agree also with the comment made by the Green member when she talked about the fact that if we were going to be spending time—taking up a select committee’s time—making a difference for elderly people the portability of overseas pensions is something that I think is actually a far more pressing need. Certainly United Future encourages the Government to make that a matter of urgency and when we come back after the Christmas break I would like to believe work is being done on that. There are some really unfair things happening for a number of our superannuitants that certainly seem to be outside the terms of reference and intention of our superannuation scheme. [ 
Interruption 
] Mr Donnelly assures me help is on its way and that is good. 
United Future will be supporting this legislation. We are very happy to support it. We think it has some huge merit and we will interested to hear the answers to the questions I have posed today in this first reading speech. 
Bill read a first time.