Mackey Moana: Veterans’ Support Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMackey Moana: Veterans’ Support Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 22 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19300. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MOANA MACKEY (Labour):I am very pleased to be able to stand and take a call in support of the Veterans’ Support Bill and the amendment being put forward by my colleague the Hon Phil Goff. This may seem like a small piece of legislation but it is in fact a very important piece of legislation.On a personal level I am very proud of the military involvement and contribution of members of my own family. My grandfather from Ruatōria served in the navy in World War II in the Pacific. He was mentioned in dispatches for managing to dispose of a grenade that landed on board. He used to like telling the story. My nana used to say that the real version probably involved a hell of a lot more panic and swearing than the version we were told. But I am very proud of my papa’s involvement in the navy in the Pacific.On the other side of my family my grandfather served in the army in Italy. He was actually photographed when he was marching out in Auckland to leave for Italy. What he did not know was that his photo was used as the recruitment poster for World War II in New Zealand which was very ironic given that he was a committed pacifist. When he got home he was quite shocked to learn that his photograph had been used. But he served time in an Italian prisoner of war camp over there and that had an impact on him on his return. Even though he died when I was 6 years old—so I was very young—I know that there was a great impact on my family and on my grandparents from having their men leave and serve overseas.My grandmother actually served with the Wrens up in Auckland. She was mapping all the different shipping movements in the Pacific. On an even more personal level my great-grandfather was a medic at Gallipoli. I was incredibly fortunate to be part of a Speaker’s delegation that involved Gallipoli on Anzac Day. To stand at Chunuk Bair and to look at the trenches and to see what my great-grandfather saw when he came ashore at Gallipoli and the huge challenge that lay before them was deeply moving. I felt incredibly privileged as his great-granddaughter to be able to stand there honouring and commemorating his commitment and the commitment of his colleagues to our country on what was a tragic day but a day that forged a nation. So I come from a family that has had a long contribution to the military in New Zealand of which I am deeply proud.I also want to pay tribute to another great chief from the Eastern Bay of Plenty. On 17 April Doug Belsham passed away. Doug Belsham will be known to a number of my colleagues for being a very passionate letter writer and someone who would come along to any event we were holding and talk to my colleagues about many of the issues facing veterans in New Zealand. He was the Eastern Bay RSA welfare officer for many many years. I think it would be a conservative estimate to say that he helped many hundreds and hundreds of people. Although he was based in Whakatāne he actually supported veterans ex-service people and their families right throughout New Zealand and even some who were living in Australia.What always struck me about Doug in our many many long conversations was his incredible grasp of the detail of policy and legislation relating to veterans and to ex - service people his unmoveable commitment to ensuring that access to entitlements and assistance was not eroded and his phenomenal memory which allowed him to recall details of pension claims going back more than 20 years. He was a renowned historian of military and political matters and he is greatly missed.I was actually in touch with Doug in the months before his passing regarding the Veterans’ Support Bill which we are debating today. This is a bill that came out of a Law Commission review but the Government has unfortunately ignored a key recommendation of that review as well as many of the submissions of veterans and the New Zealand RSA. That Law Commission review as my colleagues have said was set up by the last Labour Government. It recommended that all war veterans put in harm’s way in an overseas deployment should be eligible for a veterans pension. The pension is in place of rather than on top of New Zealand superannuation and it confers some small but important benefits on our veterans such as a lump-sum payment on death a community services card and the continuation of the pension if hospitalised.Most returned service personnel who want to go on to the veterans pension do not do so because of the benefits but because they see it as their country honouring their service. However our veterans are eligible for this pension only if they are considered significantly disabled or more specifically have 52 percent or higher impairment. For many years veterans have been asking that this requirement be dropped. This was a position that was endorsed by the New Zealand RSA. Unfortunately this recommendation has been ignored. The Government has said that the recommendation shall not progress “at this point in time”. Well that is all very well and good but time is not on the side of World War II Korean Malayan and Viet Nam veterans. Time is not on their side. As the years pass their numbers are rapidly declining. The decision not to support this recommendation fails to answer the fundamental question of why it should be necessary to be significantly disabled to qualify for a veterans pension.This year we commemorate the centenary of the start of World War I. There will be many sincere expressions of gratitude for the service of our veterans. Surely we can do more to acknowledge the centenary and our veterans in a tangible way by extending their eligibility for a veterans pension. That is why Labour is moving an amendment in the Committee stage to remove the disability requirement. We are hopeful that the National Government will see the enormous symbolism in this small gesture reverse its position and support the change. The cost of doing so is small—$11 million this year declining to $8 million in 3 years’ time. The message it would send however is not small. It is an incredibly important one.Labour has said we will adopt the Law Commission’s recommendation to ensure all war veterans are eligible for a veterans pension. The RSA National President Don McIver says that it would be “a real indication that the proud and dedicated service of our veterans potentially with their lives having been put in harm’s way is recognised as warranting special acknowledgement beyond that provided to New Zealand citizens generally by way of superannuation”. A Labour Government would do the right thing for our veterans.