Verrall AyeshaHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for Seniors): I want to begin my contribution by acknowledging the work of Dr Bloomfield Director-General of Health. As a Minister I'm especially grateful for the high-quality public health advice he has provided to Government that has seen us have some of the best outcomes in the world in terms of our pandemic response. As a doctor I respect his commitment to improving the health of New Zealanders and the contribution he has made in that respect is second to none.But as my colleague Mr Jackson has just said that's enough of the niceties. This Government is absolutely committed to saving lives as we have through the COVID response and improving the livelihoods of New Zealanders. That is an important factor that we take forward as we plan and execute our COVID recovery.We are extremely concerned about the cost of living impacts that impact everyone but in particular I want to address my comments today to their impacts on seniors. Many superannuitants many just on a pension and through our 1 April package we have seen the support that they receive increase substantially to deal with these pressures. For example a single superannuitant receiving an increase in their support by $52 a fortnight and a couple to $80 a fortnight. In addition to this we are also dealing with the increased pressure caused by costs of energy over winter with $700 in support going across the colder months of the year. Seniors also benefit from public transport and petrol price reductions—and indeed not all public transport is covered by the SuperGold card; not all trips—so that support no doubt is welcome too. This is in addition to the number of measures we are taking to reduce the cost of living for all—by raising benefits and increases to the minimum wage among others.Now I know that members on the other side of the House would address these challenges differently. They have proposed tax cuts that benefit the most well-off New Zealanders: those earning over $180000 a year. For all their hard work superannuitants who have worked hard all their life will not get a jot from a proposed tax cut. In fact tax cuts raise pressure on those supports that seniors depend on in their retirement.We've heard it said many times in this House that National can't have it both ways. They cannot claim that they can support tax cuts while also supporting Government spending on things crucial to the support of seniors. They have to come clean about whether or not they'll continue to support superannuation at the level that we currently do and in fact we know that National has already signalled a change to superannuation policy: increasing the age of entitlement to 67. Now this Government considers super as an earned and deserved support for seniors and those approaching the end of their working life on low wages won't substantially benefit from National's tax cuts and they will get their super delayed as well.It is also a fact of life that as we age we rely more on the health system. Free care and public hospitals when you're sick is part of the deal for a lifetime of hard work. We know that our health system is under pressure from a pandemic and prior to that years of underfunding. We know the National Party's tax cuts come at a time when the health system needs greater investment than ever. This is a Government that believes that systems should be there for you when you need it; it should be based on need and not your ability to pay.The seniors I speak to know this Government cares for them. They know the work we have done has saved their lives through the pandemic. They know National wanted the borders open before people were vaccinated. They've heard National's calls for dropping alert levels for reductions in isolation for scrapping the traffic lights. We've heard Mr Goldsmith's contribution earlier he wants a sense of forward momentum—but I wonder who are you driving over for your sense of forward momentum?The decisions this Government took saved lives. If we had had the experience of the United States we would have 19000 deaths; of the United Kingdom 13000 deaths—almost all of the lives that we saved or a large proportion of them were seniors. They may not matter to people on the other side of the House but they matter to this Government.We will continue to prioritise seniors. We will continue to invest in the services that they need and deserve. The old National Party is back and they care about no one but themselves.