Coleman Jonathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans' Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans' Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:631;Page:3508] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to be speaking in the Committee stage of this New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans’ Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill. I note that no member of the Labour Party has yet taken a call so it is really quite hard to believe that this is a Government bill. It might be a Government bill in name but it is quite obvious that it has actually resulted from the efforts of Dr Nick Smith the MP for Nelson who has had the gumption to bring this bill to the House. [ 
Interruption 
] We now have the member for Wellington Central—perhaps for not much longer a member of the Labour Party—Marian Hobbs starting to chime in. If she would like to get up and take a call on the Labour Party’s behalf the contribution would be most welcome. 
This is common-sense legislation and it has been put forward by the party of common sense the party that has the interests of ordinary New Zealanders at heart: the National Party. It really is a crime that it has taken 6½ years for this bill to come before the House. Dr Smith was approached by a constituent a Mr Page who could not get a living alone payment because his wife was in a rest home. That really highlighted quite a bizarre anomaly. While Mr Page who has paid taxes all his life and who is now a retiree was living at home his wife was in the rest home. If Mr Page had actually divorced his wife he would have been eligible for the living alone allowance. Mrs Pettis is shaking her head over there so I hope she will be taking a call soon too because she has had a lot to say during this debate about her own pension being cut. 
Jill Pettis 
: No my mother’s. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Oh her mother’s—I am sorry I thought it was Mrs Pettis’ pension. I apologise to the former member for Whanganui. 
This bill is all about dignity and it is the National Party that is giving New Zealanders back their dignity. I think it is just very sad and disappointing that Mr Page had to go to his member of Parliament who in turn had to go to the Human Rights Commission just to get the basics Mr Page was entitled to as a taxpayer—the dignity of being able to claim as a superannuitant that single person’s allowance. 
I note that it is quite interesting that this legislation put forward basically by Dr Smith really follows a similar pattern to what we have been seeing: the National Party gets behind a piece of legislation and suddenly it becomes Government policy and a Government bill. It is a bit like the situation where revenue from the petrol tax is now going to be put into roading. That is National Party policy but we heard at the launch of the last Budget that the Government will be doing that. Of course we know that before the next Budget and the next election Labour Party members will be talking about tax cuts because those members are on the back foot now. They are on the run and National is dictating the agenda. I note that Mrs Pettis has no answer to that—no answer at all. The interesting thing is that when the working people of New Zealand get that tax cut the pensioners of New Zealand will actually benefit. If people had received those tax cuts National was going to deliver at the last election— 
Jill Pettis 
: Well why didn’t they vote for you? 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
:—Mrs Pettis should just listen; she will find out about her own pension—pensioners would have been better off by $1200 a year in the hand because the pension is based on the average take-home wage. So if the Labour Party were really serious about doing something practical for the working people of New Zealand and also for superannuitants it would have embraced tax cuts. That is a little bit of a digression but it is absolutely true. 
The public in regard to this bill were outraged with the sharing expenses rule. How that worked was that if someone had fixed costs—as we all do—in running a household those fixed costs were not taken into account when considering the level of allowance the person should have been paid while his or her spouse or partner was in a rest home. So this bill will extend the eligibility for that higher single rate of New Zealand superannuation for living alone payments or veterans’ pensions to those whose spouse or partner is in long-term residential care a hospital or a rest home. We in the National Party think that that is absolutely just. The Labour Party has had well over 6 years to do something about the situation but it has actually taken Dr Smith’s initiative to get the bill through.