Joyce StevenHon STEVEN JOYCE (National): Thank you Mr Chair. I'd like to acknowledge my colleague Alfred Ngaro's contribution because on this side of the Chamber we're doing our best to make this I have to say interesting winter energy payment that's currently not for energy and not for winter into something a bit more useful to people; that includes trying to fill the gap that has appeared in next year's numbers compared to what superannuitants would have got under the previous Government.I am informed that we'll be debating amendments to the schedules with this part so I want to note a Supplementary Order Paper that I would like the Minister to consider. We've noted that the winter energy payment doesn't start till 1 July next year. Obviously things are a bit tight down at Treasury because actually that means that superannuitants will miss out on what they would have got next year from the previous Government to the order of a couple of hundred dollars. We're going to talk about that a lot obviously in weeks to come unless it gets repaired today or even over this weekend. I offer helpfully to the Minister an amendment that fixes this up for him.This particular amendment which we'll get the opportunity to vote on in due course is to bring forward the start next year to 1 May 2018. I think that would be in the spirit of glasnost that has descended upon the Chamber this afternoon and in the spirit of Christmas. I mean I might be calling Grant the Grant that stole Christmas" but this would actually rehabilitate some of his reputation in my eyes and in others' I am sure including superannuitants; which still leaves out everybody who loses their tax but there's a group of superannuitants who would feel better about it. So I think it's worthy of consideration; I'd appreciate the Minister's view on that. I'd also appreciate knowing why it isn't 1 July because if it's not a fiscal constraint then why doesn't it just go the same time as it is going to go in subsequent years?Or there is another alternative and I've been thinking about this a lot and again in the spirit of helpfulness to the Government we know that this winter energy payment is one of those bit of a dog of an idea that somebody thought up in a hurry and it's got progressively more difficult as you look into it. Hon Amy Adams: And more expensive.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: And more expensive and we've now got the ridiculous situation where we're going to have the Customs Service and IRD checking whether superannuitants are in the country or not matching them on a database and sending them—I don't know—"Johnny Clipboard" we talked about before to go and check whether there were any redeeming features that allowed them to hang on to their winter energy payment.I think there is a much more simple way; there's a much more simple way to actually try to panel-beat this winter energy payment into shape and I congratulate my colleagues on the work they've done to try and panel-beat it into shape and those of course remain very valid options that are on the table. But I would also like to offer the Minister another option which I would say is even simpler and that is to quietly lose the winter energy payment and instead actually increase superannuation on 1 April next year by the amount that they were going to give in the winter energy payment. That would solve all the hassles with it in terms of superannuitants. And I actually think that would be a very straightforward clean and tidy way to approach it. In other words do what was intended all along and give the superannuitants the increase that they were expecting and then they can decide how to spend it. Because I mean that would be cool. They could spend it on their winter vegetables which as we know get more expensive in winter or on other things that they might want to spend it on even though we know they don't have to spend it on winter energy. It's just the name of the thing; it's not what you actually have to do with it.So I recommend this to the Government. The idea is free gratis and for nothing and what it will provide is a much simpler solution that actually delivers for superannuitants. The other very important thing is that it fixes up the problem that the winter energy payment is not indexed and it actually decreases in value every year whereas the original superannuation increase continues to increase. If you put it in the superannuation it gets increased and indexed every year and the superannuitants would be made whole by this. That's my recommendation."