Dean JacquiHon JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Congratulations to Melissa Lee for bringing the Accident Compensation (Recent Migrants and Returning New Zealanders) Amendment Bill to the House. I know that Melissa Lee brought this bill to the House because there is an identified gap of entitlements for a number of returning New Zealanders or migrants. The numbers may indeed be small which has been pointed out by Government and support party members but they are people who have reached the age of 65 and it was noted in a previous speech that's generally about the time these days that people seek to retire. They have had an accident that does prevent them from working. They're not eligible for ACC they're not eligible yet for national super and so there is indeed a gap in support for people in New Zealand no matter what their status. I'm surprised at the Government's attitude—its seemingly hard-hearted attitude—towards this small group of people. When I contrast it to their throwing money at students in their first year of study for whom nobody asked for that support. It has had no impact on the number of students accessing tertiary education and just the sheer cost of that policy compared to the very modest cost impact—because we are only dealing with a small group of people who are not well because they've had an accident they cannot work because they've had an accident and they're not eligible for national superannuation. So where does that leave them? As a constituency MP I've had a number of people come into my office in very stressed circumstances. There are a number of reasons for that stress for people who come into my office but what happens is that some event happens in a person's life. They have an accident—and I'm just broadening my example here. They may have lost their job. They're 65 or they're 66 or they're 67 and they're not entitled to national super. And then very quickly we find that people's lives can unravel. They unravel to the point where if they own a home they may have to sell that home if they own a vehicle they may have to sell that vehicle or perhaps they can't afford to run the vehicle. They have to go to bed early at night because they find electricity charges—I'm talking about the deep South here; it gets cold in winter. So I have seen over the years people coming into my office whose lives are literally spiralling downwards because of an event in their life and in the case of this bill that Melissa Lee has brought to the House it is because they have suffered an accident in their life. These are the people that this bill seeks to assist and I'm surprised—frankly surprised—that the Government of the day is not prepared to have the generosity of spirit to send this bill to select committee for further examination of the issues that it raises. I'm surprised that this Government who so willingly supports other groups of New Zealanders has chosen to target this particular group and potentially penalise this particular group who fall between the cracks of accident compensation and national super. So I do urge the Government and their support partners who have traded for many many years on looking out for vulnerable people to recognise that this bill from Melissa Lee targets and aims to make better the lives of those same vulnerable people who have suffered an injury and for whom there is a dearth of support. So I think it just goes to show that people like Melissa Lee a member of the National Party do in fact consider the needs of vulnerable people in New Zealand. I commend this bill to the House.