Sio William: Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7430. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Su’a 
 WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 We on this side of the House accept the Minister for Social Development’s explanation with regard to the Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill and so Labour supports this bill. The bill ensures that single superannuitants and veterans pensioners who are living alone do not have to make a separate application to receive their full entitlement. Labour supports this bill as it improves the lives of older New Zealanders by reducing the requirement to make an additional application to receive their full entitlement and we agree with the mainly technical changes it proposes. 
The Social Services Committee had a chance to receive submissions and has recommended some changes in relation to people who become entitled under the existing law to the living alone allowance before this bill’s date of commencement. There were only two submissions on this bill from the public. They were from the Dunedin Community Law Centre and Grey Power. There was no request to be heard by the committee but these two submissions were considered. Both submitters gave general support to the bill but both also expressed concerns with various clauses. 
The Dunedin Community Law Centre expressed that “this change will provide some peace of mind for those who suddenly become single after the death of their partner.” It however expressed concerns that new section 4A “provides that a person is living alone only if he or she occupies a principal place of residence of a specified kind and does not share that residence subject to 2 exceptions with any person who is 18 years old or older. The first exception relates to the person’s dependent child who is 18 years old is not financially independent and is attending a school or tertiary educational establishment. However the first exception applies only until the close of 31 December in the year in which the child turned 18 years old. The second exception relates to a temporary visitor …”. 
The Dunedin Community Law Centre “foresee problems with Section 4A for superannuitants and veterans pensioners where their dependent child is enrolled in tertiary education.” It argues that “Children begin tertiary education when they are 17 or 18 years of age a standard bachelors degree takes three years which means at the very least a child enrolled to do a nursing degree a BCom LLB BA or BSc et cetera may not be financially independent until they are at least 21 years of age.” For other children it would probably be older. 
Furthermore it argues that today couples are having children at a later stage in their lives and we now find parents are still supporting their dependent children in tertiary education as they move into or are in their retirement years. For example a woman who has a child at 40 years old or in later years may be supporting that child when she turns 65 years old and her child is in their 20s. Similarly if a man has a child when he is 50 years old then that child will be 15 years of age when the father becomes eligible for superannuation. 
The Dunedin Community Law Centre proposed that “it may be more prudent to have a 12 month clause rather than making this an exception ‘only until the close of 31 December in the year in which the child turned 18 years old.’ This clause means that a parent with a child born January is able to access the living alone payment for longer than a person who has a child who turns 18 in September.” 
The Grey Power submission also shared concerns with the same clause. It submitted that “Some single parents may without alternative income or savings wish to support the child through the time that the child is receiving Tertiary Education and there could well be some cases of undue hardship which may need special support.” 
Sadly the Government did not accept the arguments by Grey Power and the Dunedin Community Law Centre and did not support these arguments put forward. The Government— 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Do they have a Samoan wing of Grey Power? 
Su’a 
 WILLIAM SIO 
: Almost. The Government is adamant that other support is available for adult children and it says besides a child who turns 18 years old is an adult. 
Here is where I have a problem. The Government says that an 18-year-old will have access to their own source of income either wages from a job a benefit a student allowance or a student loan. I would have to say that every single source of income that the Government has identified for 18-year-olds is drying up and they are drying up under this Government’s watch. So I find the Government’s argument incredulous and out of touch with the reality New Zealanders are facing today especially when we take in John Key’s promise to create 170000 jobs. It failed. It failed and instead we have 175000 people without work. 
The household labour force survey figures show that youth unemployment ages 15 to 19 years has gone up to 25.5 percent. For ages 15 to 24 years unemployment has gone to 17.3 percent. Overall since National has been in office unemployment amongst 15 to 24-year-olds has increased by 16500 since December 2008. The number of youth not in education employment or training overall since National took office—15 to 24-year-olds—has increased by 18000. So when the Government says that 18-year-olds have their own source of income by earning an income through a job benefit student allowance or student loan I have to say that that is incredulous and most parents would say that is not good enough. Why would any parent want their child to work at 18 years unless it is towards gaining a qualification? Why would we want our young people to work for 80 percent of the minimum wage? Why would we want as a country not to invest in our young people and ensure they have the best opportunities and are supported to gain a tertiary qualification? 
Labour also has concerns about the bill and we will be putting up amendments at the Committee stage. Our concern is that the provisions in the bill relating to dependent children may not take into account the diverse range of situations that superannuitants and pensioners may find themselves in when it comes to cohabiting with their children. 
Currently a single superannuitant or veterans pensioner is eligible to receive the living alone payment only if he or she does not share that residence the exception being where the other occupant is a dependent child. The bill will amend this exception to provide that a person who has a child living with them can receive the new single living alone rate only until the end of the calendar year in which that child reaches the age of 18. We are concerned that there will be cases where this distinction will have unintended and unfair consequences—for example where a child is over the age of 18 but may have an intellectual disability and could still be classified as dependent or when a child is temporarily unable to support themselves. Also this policy is inconsistent with the student allowance policy where a young person is still means-tested against their parents’ income until they are 24 years of age thereby classifying them as dependent. New Zealand Labour does not believe that these issues were adequately addressed in this bill so for that reason we will be looking to provide amendments in the Committee stage. 
I want to take this opportunity to wish everybody a very merry Christmas. I know that in the communities in Mangere throughout Manukau this has been a really difficult year—and I sincerely mean difficult—because people have struggled to make ends meet with high unemployment and with the cost of living. They have just struggled. I hate standing up in this House and supporting bills that this Government puts through but as a responsible Opposition we do support this particular bill. But in terms of the range of other bills that this Government has put up throughout this year I want to say to those members that they are hurting our communities—they are hurting our communities. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for hard-working communities such as Mangere especially when you have a National Government in power. Merry Christmas.