Logie Jan: Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 25 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2600. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green):I rise to take a short call in the Committee stage of the Taxation (KiwiSaver HomeStart and Remedial Matters) Bill. I also want to put a few questions to the Minister in the chair Jo Goodhew specifically in relation to clauses 8 to 11 and the changes for veterans. I did say in the first reading of this bill that I was slightly bewildered to have this legislation in front of the House after just last year when the House spent such a long time considering the Veterans’ Support Bill which was in turn the result of a very extended Law Commission report on the need to modernise our veterans’ support system. Parliament spent many many hours on that legislation.I have to say that at the very least I am bewildered to be here less than a year later I think with a bill that talks about remedial matters and is in fact from what I can read in it proposing quite significant changes to what have been described as mistakes in that piece of work. It is I say again a disturbing trend that seems to be happening in this House where we are fixing up mistakes in the legislation of this Government. I would like to hear clarification about exactly what the in-the-hand impact of this change in legislation will be for veterans.I did sit through the Social Services Committee meetings and I am concerned. After all the care we took in that committee listening to veterans about the hardship they were experiencing particularly as we are coming up to—and I am not one to celebrate war—the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli I am concerned. There has been so much attention to remembering the lessons of that war and giving honour to the tragic losses and the harm done to people sent into those conflict zones by this House and the fact that we could potentially be passing legislation that would reduce their incomes and the support available to them under the title of “Remedial Matters” is deeply disturbing to me and I really do hope to have that issue positively clarified to us in the Committee tonight.I would also like to speak about this bill in terms of a measure that National cited during the election campaign as one of its key responses to the housing crisis—the crisis that nobody on that side of the House seems to acknowledge is a crisis. Clause 6 enables people to access their tax credits in their own KiwiSaver account if they are eligible for the HomeStart provision and have the ability to access their KiwiSaver savings. As has already been mentioned I think it amounts to about $521 a year which in the very very best-case scenario is around $5000 if they are old enough and enrolled in the scheme at its first inception in 2007. So we are not talking about very much money. We are not talking about any new money at all because it was money that the Government had already contributed and put into people’s KiwiSaver schemes. So it is just enabling people to access a little bit more which also means they will have less in the hand at retirement.It is critical to recognise how big the housing crisis is in this country. I think the average age of first-home purchasers in the 1970s was 25 from the best evidence that I can get from the library. The most up-to-date information we have got tells us that the average age is now 34 or 36 and I would suspect it is quite a bit higher in Auckland because that is a national figure. I know I am very lucky living in the wonderful Porirua East to have been able to buy a very cheap house but I know that is not the reality in most of New Zealand. In fact the average house price in Auckland is now over $650000. Can you imagine that? That is more than three times my house price and it requires a significant deposit. If you need 20 percent in order to have a deposit on the average house it is over $120000. When you think about how expensive rents are in Auckland—and in many other places in the country—and about what people have left over and their ability to save for a deposit it becomes clear that it is impossible.I was speaking with some caregivers up in Auckland on Monday night and they were talking about working full time caring for their kids and living in Auckland. They found a place close to their work but after they have paid their rent they have less than $200 a week left to cover all the rest of their costs and care for their children. You are not going to be able to save for a deposit—you are going to struggle to feed your kids when that is the reality.So $520 which you already have from the Government is not going to enable you to get anywhere near $120000. I do not think that clause 6 lives up to the Government’s election promise. To consider this measure an answer in terms of home affordability and people’s ability to buy their first homes is a bit of a joke but we are supporting this bill because—and it feels weird even saying this—we know that for some people somewhere in the country that little bit of money might be just enough to put them over the edge into being able to buy their first house. It would feel curmudgeonly to not support that. But in terms of integrity in terms of this being a response to home affordability and in terms of this being a response to the housing crisis then the answer is no it is not.I cannot imagine that anyone in this country listening to any of this debate would have a sense of gratitude to the Government or even a sense of confidence in the Government’s ability to respond to the real issues facing this country at this time. So we offer our very provisional support and look forward to hearing the Minister answering the questions around veterans’ support because that in fact may change our position on this bill. Kia ora.