Turner Judy: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Turner Judy: Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
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JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I speak on behalf of United Future on this first reading of the Injury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill (No 2). This is a bill that seems to widen access to accident compensation entitlements. It is a refinement of the accident compensation system as it proposes amendments to cover for work-related injuries changes in weekly compensation eligibility and entitlement and changes to entitlement and processes around vocational rehabilitation and independence. 
There are some changes in the bill to tests for causation for work-related injury where there is a gradual process—when an injury is gradually experienced by somebody—and that is a good thing. It includes eligibility to lump-sum payments to be extended to claimants for work-related gradual process disease and infection and to those who suffer personal injury following the date the bill comes into force. 
The previous speaker Tariana Turia talked about the new cover for mental injury that is caused by exposure to a sudden traumatic event in the course of employment. I think that this is an extremely good thing to be included in the bill. We know of some very highly publicised cases where people have witnessed murders train drivers have had people walk out on to the line and be killed or very traumatic events like that. The cover for those people to get some counselling and help with that is hugely important. 
The access to cover for people in between jobs is widened from 14 to 28 days as long as future employment has been organised. This provision does not apply to people who are out of work and who have left work but if people are in between jobs for a period of up to 28 days then they can still receive cover. I think it is a good thing. The abatement conditions for those who are partially incapacitated and who return to part-time work are improved and I have had lots of constituent cases around that issue. 
I am particularly pleased to see that the bill is making some improvements to leave entitlements so that they will not be considered earnings for weekly abatement purposes. I had a case only about a week ago from a constituent who fell exactly into this category. He was in between jobs. There was an accident during that period of time that was work-related because he was finishing up but he had handed in his notice on a job and was planning to go into new employment after taking a holiday. He was very full of angst over the fact that the holiday pay that he was entitled to—that had been caught up on and paid out from the first job—was calculated and it affected his accident compensation payments at that time. It looks like we will get some real movement on that and I am sure that the gentleman I spoke to in Whakatane only a week or so ago will be very pleased to hear of that change. 
One of the negatives of this bill is that in widening access to accident compensation entitlements we also widen the very real gap that exists right now between trauma-based disability and medical or disease-based disability. I accept that the issue I am bringing before the House does not fall within the scope of this bill. I believe that there is a very real challenge for the Government to address this matter in the future and I would also go as far as to say that failure to address this blatant inequity is an extension of gross unfairness that borders on cruelty. I have been spending quite a bit of time recently talking to those within the disability sector and the stories are tragic. We can meet people whose set of limitations is identical to the set of limitations of somebody living right next door where their impairment has been caused by an illness and the people next door have had a car accident. The difference between the services provided in each case is enormous and it is discouraging. 
I believe that some real work needs to be done by this Government—and in fact by every party in this Parliament that is seeking re-election—to look at how we can better help those who suffer debilitating conditions but who have not suffered them as a result of a traumatic accident. There is a very very big gap in the provision of health and disability services in this country right now. Issues around compensation and the loss of income remain unaddressed and I think we do the public whom we serve a great disservice when we fail to find a way forward on this matter. 
United Future is happy to support this bill. We will be very interested to see what submitters to the select committee say. We do not have membership on the select committee that will be looking at this bill so we will be relying very heavily on the report back from the select committee and the recommendations it makes but we are very happy to support this first reading.