Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill

Madam Chair, it’s a pleasure to take a call this evening on the Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill. It will be just a brief call today, but I want to explain our rationale on the National Party side for supporting this bill through its current stage, through to its eventual passing later on. This is a very important bill. The purpose of this bill is pretty clear. It’s first and foremost about flexibility. It’s also about fairness, and it’s about giving locals who live in the Realm who are New Zealand citizens the opportunity to go back and contribute to their local economies and, at the same time, fulfil the requirements to access their superannuation.

I just wanted to describe a little bit about the bill—I mean, certainly why I support it. Essentially, it allows any person from the Realm—that is, from Niue, Tokelau, or the Cook Islands—to live here and contribute to New Zealand’s economy and then, after they turn 50, as long as they complete five years in the Realm of where they come from—they can move to the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau—they will, essentially, qualify for the New Zealand superannuation or veterans pension. I believe that’s a really important step to make. Of course, as the Minister in the chair, Carmel Sepuloni, will know, our relationship with these countries is very strong and it goes back a long way in terms of our history, our economic relationship in terms of remittances, and also our political relationship as well. I think that this bill is, essentially, really important to enable people from the Realm to get their superannuation entitlements and, at the same time, go back to their country and contribute to their local economy.

Just going through the bill, since we are in the committee stage, looking at the amendments in Part 1—I’m certainly very supportive of those clauses. In terms of what the policy problem is that I see we are trying to solve, essentially it is giving people the opportunity to fulfil their 10-year residency requirement—plus five over 50, as we know—and also allowing them the opportunity to go back to their countries from the Realm and to contribute to the local economy, and also fulfil their requirements for the New Zealand superannuation or veterans pension.

We were on the select committee as part of this process and we heard a total of seven submissions. Seven of those were written and two of them were submitted orally. Essentially, there were three arguments that were made around the bill that would prevent this bill from going forward. I just want to highlight them. I don’t agree with them but I want to outline the issues that were raised in the submissions and why I don’t think we need to address them in this instance.

Firstly, there was an issue from one of the submitters that this bill, essentially, discriminates. What I want to assure the person who made the submission is that this bill is open to any overseas person that comes to New Zealand that can fulfil the requirements to get their pension and then also wants to move to any of the Islands in the Realm—whether it be Tokelau, the Cook Islands, or Niue. They are able to move to those islands and also fulfil the residency requirements.

There was also an issue that was raised in the select committee process around the fact that this might actually harm some of the economic contribution to these nations. I would argue that it actually does the opposite. Through giving people the opportunity to work in these countries, to go back to these countries, and also to fulfil the requirements of the pension, it also, essentially, is going to be a contributor to that.

Thank you, Mr Chair. I’ll just take a quick call on behalf of New Zealand First. It’s a long time coming. Great to see it here; great to see that it is this Government moving it forward very quickly.

I do acknowledge the speaker who just resumed his seat, Dan Bidois. It was in 2015 that an amendment was originally put forward by the previous administration. That is true. Unfortunately, it didn’t do what was promised to the Cook Islands, Niuean, and Tokelauan community, which was the five years over 50. One of the reasons why this is so important is because, obviously, as well as being proud Cook Islanders, Rarotongans, Niueans, or Tokelauans, the people from these islands are New Zealanders. So it seemed an anomaly that they couldn’t access their superannuation and be able to have the superannuation that they were entitled to under the rules and regulations, and be able to also take their skills and their superannuation and go to the Islands.

In a way this is part of the way that New Zealand supports the Realm nations. It’s the way that we have worked with their Governments to ensure that we are able not just to encourage Cook Islanders, Niueans, and Tokelauans to go home, to take their skills home, to build their communities, to actually create a level of skill there, but also to allow New Zealanders, any New Zealander, to go there and to participate and start to build what is the fabric of the cultures on the Islands. It’s just an extension of the greater relationship that we have with our Realm nations.

So I just really want to acknowledge the Minister in the chair, the Hon Carmel Sepuloni, and the speed with which she has been able to address what is an anomaly in the 2015 legislation that went through. I was in the House at that time. I remember listening to that piece of legislation going through, and thinking this was actually not what the conversation was between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of our colleagues in the Realm nations. So it’s really nice to be part of a Government that is putting this right, which is making sure that we honour the commitment that was originally made.

I know that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been an advocate for this. I know the Prime Minister has been an advocate for this. I know that they want to do, and provide through this legislation, what was originally agreed between the New Zealand Government and the Governments of the Realm nations. So, again, I just take a very quick call on my part to acknowledge the Minister in the chair and to acknowledge the Government. We want to move this forward because this is something to the benefit of our friends in the Islands and also to the New Zealanders that will make the Islands home and take their skills there to help, as I say, build what is the capacity of those communities to deal with the issues that are coming. Kia ora.

I seek leave for the remainder of the Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill to be debated as one.

Leave has been sought for that purpose. Is there any objection? There appears not to be.

Parts 1 and 2, schedules 1 and 2, and clauses 1 and 2