Sepuloni CarmelSOCIAL ASSISTANCE (RESIDENCY QUALIFICATION) LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon CARMEL SEPULONI (Minister for Social Development): I move That the Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the bill.This bill seeks to provide greater pension flexibility for people who wish to retire in any of the Cook Islands Niue Tokelau or New Zealand. Before I get into the detail of this bill can I acknowledge the presence of the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna and his Minister Albert Nicholas and other advisers and staff members from the Cook Islands. Can I also acknowledge you Madam Assistant Speaker as a Cook Islands member of this Parliament—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Kia orana.Hon CARMEL SEPULONI: —and I also acknowledge Alfred Ngaro from the Opposition as a Cook Islands member from this Parliament and my ministerial colleague Kris Faafoi of Tokelauan descent as a member of this Parliament as well.This Government is committed to a Pacific reset. We have a renewed emphasis on strengthening our relationship with our Pacific neighbours. This renewed emphasis is in a small but meaningful way reflected in this bill. Yesterday the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands the Rt Hon Henry Puna described the connection between New Zealand and the Cook Islands as an enduring evolving and living partnership. Under this Government we will continue to evolve and grow together with our Pacific neighbours based on a partnership of equals.I see this much-needed and long-time-coming piece of legislation as honouring this special partnership between New Zealand and the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau. This Government wants to make sure that those countries and territories that have close constitutional ties with New Zealand are recognised and that their ongoing economic and social viability is supported. We also want to ensure that New Zealanders who meet the relevant visa and immigration requirements can have other options for where they spend their retirement. This bill allows the requirement that a person can meet their requirements of five years' residence and presence after the age of 50 in New Zealand for superannuation with residence and presence in either New Zealand the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau or any combination of those countries and that territory. The change is restricted to the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau because this bill is about recognising New Zealand's close constitutional relationships with these Pacific Islands and reflects our push for stronger and more aspirational partnerships between New Zealand and these Pacific Islands. Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau are part of the Realm of New Zealand which means that they enjoy shared citizenship with New Zealand and unique legal arrangements. Both the Cook Islands and Niue have adopted constitutions enabling self-government and free association with New Zealand so they can administer their own affairs. Tokelau is a non-selfgoverning territory of New Zealand.Current pension portability arrangements allow people to take their New Zealand superannuation to one of 22 Pacific countries and territories including the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau. This special portability arrangement is designed to recognise the contribution Pacific peoples make to New Zealand and the inability of Pacific countries and territories to fulfil the reciprocal obligations necessary to conclude social security agreements with New Zealand. There are currently nearly 400 people receiving their New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension in the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau and over 300 of those people live in the Cook Islands.Before 2015 a person would have to be resident and present in New Zealand on the date of application in order to be eligible under the special portability arrangement. However an amendment introduced in 2015 means that people resident in the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau can now apply for New Zealand superannuation or the veterans pension from the Islands rather than needing to be resident and present in New Zealand at the time of their application. Applicants though were still required to be 65 years or over and to have lived in New Zealand for 10 years since the age of 20 and five years since the age of 50 in fulfilment of the other requirements of superannuation and veterans pension.The intent of this change was to remove a disincentive for people to return to the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau to live. However the change has had a smaller take-up than expected. It is now evident that the 2015 change while removing some disincentives for skilled people to return to the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau during their working lives did not achieve the desired effect of encouraging people to move back to and remain in those countries. The overall principle of the five years over 50 residence requirement that comes with superannuation and the veterans pension entitlements continues to be preserved in this bill and requirements remain about overall residency of at least 10 years in New Zealand after the age of 20. This means that somebody must have at least had a recent connection with the Cook Islands Niue Tokelau or New Zealand before they can get New Zealand superannuation or veterans pension which could not be achieved by simply removing the five years over 50 residence requirement for people applying from the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau.The proposals in this bill have come about due to concerns raised by the Governments of the Cook Islands and Niue about the current five years over age 50 residence requirement. They considered that the five over 50 residence requirement was deterring skilled people from returning and contributing to their countries and territory. They were also concerned that the five years over 50 residence requirement may induce some people to return to New Zealand in order to ensure that they will be able to claim New Zealand superannuation or veterans pension later on and the concern was that that was the only reason for returning to New Zealand at that point.This bill is about supporting the economic and social viability of the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau. Depopulation and its related social and economic consequences is a longstanding issue for these islands. The current five years over 50 residence requirement has been described as a disincentive for Cook Islanders Niueans and Tokelauans to remain in their employment and to participate in their community after having lived in New Zealand. We all in this House know the importance of family particularly in later life. This bill helps to maintain family and community ties in these Pacific Islands by enabling older people to stay with their family without losing access to superannuation or the veterans pension. There is also concern that people would leave important positions which contribute to the economy and society to return to New Zealand to gain the five years residence in New Zealand over the age of 50. Removing this disincentive would potentially help boost economic development and human resource capacity by allowing highly skilled people to continue contributing to their communities in these Pacific Islands after the age of 50 and be entitled to New Zealand's superannuation and veterans pension by using residence in the Cook Islands Niue Tokelau and New Zealand to qualify.This change will not be restricted to New Zealand citizens of the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau; other New Zealanders who qualify for New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension will be able to make use of the provision should they meet the relevant migration and visa criteria in the Cook Islands Niue or Tokelau and choose to reside there. I thought I should clarify this because I have people in my office thinking that at the age of 50 they could just automatically move to the Cook Islands and that's not the case.The economic implications of the bill for New Zealand are relatively low. The increase in New Zealand superannuation and veterans pension costs in the first complete fiscal year in 2019-20 is estimated to be $3.5 million rising to $4.3 million by 2022-23.There are a range of indirect economic benefits and savings that may be derived by New Zealand from the proposal. The potential benefits include increased economic activity in the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau—as I mentioned earlier—leading to a reduction in remittance payments and potentially private transfers from New Zealand. Savings could also be accrued as a result of a lesser burden on some of the New Zealand Government - funded services as has been highlighted by the Cook Islands and Niue Governments themselves. These benefits are difficult to quantify however and would depend on the response to the new arrangements.Officials have tried to estimate how many people might benefit from the new arrangement. The proposal is estimated to result in an additional 174 people receiving New Zealand super and the veterans pension in the first complete fiscal year of operation in 2019-20 rising to 204 people in 2022-23. While those are relatively small numbers in the context of the very small populations of Niue and Tokelau in particular which each have populations of less than 1500 people the implications of the bill are significant for those countries and territories.I want to acknowledge the vital role in bringing this bill together that our Pacific neighbours have played not only in New Zealand but can I also say the role that our Pacific neighbours play on the global stage. We have a unique relationship with the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau and that is something to cherish. With this bill this Government shows our commitment to evolving and growing our partnership together as a response to the concerns and needs that have been raised with us. I want to thank the Cook Island Government for being present in the House today and I look forward to progressing this bill further. Meitaki.