Flavell Te Ururoa: New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Amendment Bill War Pensions Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Flavell Te Ururoa: New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Amendment Bill War Pensions Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 20 October 2009. Volume:658;Page:7324. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Tena koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa i tenei ahiahi.  
As we consider this bill today crowds will be heading to Mangahanea Marae in Ruatoria to bid their farewells to the renowned educator and mentor Mate Huatahi Kaiwai as mentioned by the Hon Parekura Horomia yesterday. This kuia of 94 years of age was the proud mother of nine children and Mate was also kuia to 31 mokopuna and 33 great-mokopuna. She was awarded Te Whetu o Te Tau by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori the Maori Language Commission a couple of years ago for her lifelong contribution to the retention and preservation of Maori language. 
But there was another distinctive characteristic of Mate and that was the fact that she was the daughter of Ta Apirana Turupa Ngata Ngati Porou leader politician esteemed scholar devout land reformer and writer. His wide-ranging scholarship resulted in a unique publication of a collection of waiata  
Nga Moteatea 
; the journal  
Te Wananga 
; the revision of the Maori Bible; and a survey called  
The Maori People Today: A General Survey 
. But his legacy was also important in encouraging his people to develop and farm their land while also preserving their culture and maintaining their unique identity—all aspects that his daughter clung to until her dying days. 
I draw attention to the inspiration of that kuia in this brief contribution to the debate because she represents in aspects just how treasured our pakeke are and as a consequence should lead us to seek to improve the income levels and support for them in whatever form we can. It is because of our aroha our love for kuia such as Mate that the Maori Party has previously supported legislation to amend the income and asset-testing regime for elderly people requiring indefinite long-term residential care. We supported the initiative of the SuperGold card and more recently we have extended the eligibility for the single living alone rate to previously excluded categories of superannuitants and veterans. In many ways these votes have all paved the way for the decision to have this collection of bills which have now been split off and are before the House right now. 
But there is another special characteristic to the legacy of Nanny Mate. As the daughter of Sir Apirana Ngata I think she represents a unique connection to our past. To all intents and purposes she sits at the cusp of another era a gateway to Te Ao Maori of days gone by. Our cultural framework establishes the expectation that it is the role and the responsibility of the middle and younger generations to properly care for our elders. For the Maori Party whanau ora is integral to the proper care and respect for older people—for older people to feel included loved secure supported and involved in community life. 
As part of such an expectation we therefore support the opportunity provided by this raft of legislation to allow superannuitants and veterans pensioners to travel or retire overseas and still have the ability to receive New Zealand superannuation and pension payments. Such an expectation includes provisions for countries with which New Zealand does not have agreements relating to reciprocity of social security payments. This legislation also amends the current flat rate payment of 50 percent of the benefit when a person leaves New Zealand with an abatement scheme that entitles those who have lived longer in New Zealand to receive a greater superannuation or pension payment. These are all practical tangible measures to help make life just a little easier for our older ones. They are also consistent with the Maori Party policy position which has promoted the need to raise the rate of superannuation and veterans pensions. 
We believe that superannuation should be set at a level that provides for an equitable standard of living pays for all of the essentials and allows the continued participation of older people in community life. As a consequence of this view the Maori Party advocates an increase in superannuation income. Price increases in essentials such as basic food items petrol and electricity lend urgency to the need to increase superannuation levels. A 6-monthly inflationary adjustment is also necessary to maintain living standards. 
But there is another aspect to the income differential not addressed in this legislation that we believe warrants further examination and that is the capacity to lower the age of entitlement to New Zealand superannuation to 60 years for groups whose life expectancy is lower than average. The average mortality age for Maori is around 10 years earlier than it is for non-Maori. We believe that a lower entitlement age will allow for a more equitable uptake of New Zealand superannuation for all citizens. Of the 65-plus population in New Zealand in Aotearoa 5.3 percent are Maori so we are aware of the scale of the income difference we are dealing with. 
We will therefore support this bill in that it will enable superannuitants and veteran’s pensioners who wish to travel to or live in any country or travel between any countries to retain their benefit entitlement. We support it also in that it amends the benefit entitlement of superannuitants and veterans pensioners living overseas. With these two provisos firmly in place we are happy to state our collective support for this reading of the bill. Kia ora tatou.