Ngaro Alfred: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Social Assistance (Portability to Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 16 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4449. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): I rise to take a call on this bill. First of all I just want to be really clear: I absolutely support this bill as it stands and as recommended by the Social Services Committee to return to the House. Secondly I do not support—and the Government does not support—Supplementary Order Paper 71 which the Rt Hon Winston Peters has lodged. He has talked a lot about the Swordfish Club or Swordfighters Club—I am not sure which one it is. I have not been to that club—sorry I have been but I have not frequented it as much. I think Trader Jacks is where the Rt Hon Winston Peters has actually been. He knows Trader Jacks very well. There have been very many great conversations with expats who live over there and I imagine that they have talked about this. I think this is a great opportunity because I know the Rt Hon Winston Peters probably has more stamps from the Cook Islands—from Rarotonga and even Aitutaki—on his passport even as the Minister of Foreign Affairs because such is the relationship that he has. Irrespective of the wine box and all the other things that have gone on previously he has a special relationship with the Cook Islands so this is a great opportunity to be able to ensure that he can reinforce that relationship.Let us get to the crux of the bill in the first part. There are a couple of points that have been made. Let us talk about these 5 years because those have been the contention. There were 13 submissions 12 of which talked about the issue of the 5 years and were looking for an exemption from those 5 years. Here are the reasons why. Some members may not have read the regulatory impact statement or the disclosure statement but they are very clear. First of all there are social security agreements with other countries such as Canada and the UK and in these agreements there is a reciprocal arrangement. Under that reciprocal arrangement what it means is that if there is a New Zealander who decides that he or she wants to retire back to one of these countries they still have to do their 5 years in order to receive that pension. The reciprocal arrangement is that New Zealand will pay for their pension—their superannuation—back in the Cook Islands. So the question is this: who pays for the superannuation of Cook Islanders or Kiwis from here if they decide to return to the Cook Islands Tokelau or Niue? Who is it? It is New Zealand that pays for it. If in return people in the Cook Islands decide that they want to return to New Zealand and live here could the Cook Island Niuean or Tokelauan Governments pay their superannuation? The answer is no they could not. That is what you call a reciprocal arrangement—a social security agreement—that could not be met. It is very simple. It is very clear.The second thing is that there was a point that was made by Poto Williams with regard to citizenship. Let us also remember this: the Cook Islands Niue and Tokelau are three nations of the realm. When we are talking about “the triple star” in our national anthem what we are talking about is this: they are self-governing and have free association. So yes they have the rights of citizenship but they are self-governing. In other words there is a difference. You cannot say that they are one and the same. If you do not know that then you may need to research a little bit about self-governance—OK? You may need to research a little bit about self-governance so that you get the point. That is why it becomes very important. There is no discrimination. There is no Outrageous Fortune by Mr Darroch Ball about this bill. This is a good bill.The last point that I want to make is this: Minister McCully talked about the fact that he was making a commitment to those three nations and that he would put this through. Let us remember: no other nationshave this special dispensation—not Samoa not Tuvalu not Kiribati and not Tonga. There are only three nations that have this special dispensation: these three nations. So when you say that there is discrimination there is no discrimination. In 2011 when the earthquake happened in Christchurch Minister McCully said this: his commitment was that this legislation would go through; however because of the cause of the issues in Christchurch we had to meet our obligations there first and foremost. However the question you ask and those who are listening ask is this: has he kept his promise? The answer is yes he has because here we have a bill and I would like to challenge the member over there. When it comes to voting for this bill you may not get your Supplementary Order Paper but I will ask you this question: will you vote for the bill? You have put your minority report in you have made your assertions you have talked about discrimination but the question is: when it comes to the bill will you vote for it? That is really where the answer will lie because this bill is a good bill. This bill is a bill that no other Pacific nation has the opportunity for. You do not have to be present and resident in this country. At the age of 55 you can return back to your nation you can serve your country for another 10 years and you can applyfrom there.So I have got to tell you this about the report that was committed in 2011 by the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee—and Mr Winston Peters will know this. I will call him the honourable John Hayes. The honourable John Hayes had this report and the report said this: our commitment and our responsibility back to those Pacific nations relate to the issue of depopulation. In some cases—in the Cook Islands for instance—up to 500 people were leaving the Cook Islandsper annum so this was a way of keeping up that commitment. In honour of that report and the research that was done this was the commitment. I commend this bill. I am happy to go with the Rt Hon Winston Peters to the Swordfish or Swordfighters Bar or whatever you want to call it or to Trader Jacks to sit down with the expats and give them the facts—not the semi-facts not the sort of shady facts in a box called a wine box; no no no. We will put it straight to them. I will be happy to stand there and be able to present them with the facts and the reasons why. I think that once they hear those they will see that this bill is common sense. I commend this bill to the House.