Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
19 APRIL 2016

Grey Power AGM

Commodore Hotel

Memorial Ave

Christchurch

7.15pm, 19th April, 2016

EMBARGOED TILL DELIVERY

Don’t Take Supergold Card Or NZ Superannuation for Granted

New Zealand First and Grey Power have enjoyed a close relationship and we are sure it will continue.

New Zealand First has a long list of policies which are totally supportive of Seniors.

We represent your interests in Parliament better than any other political party.

Like you, New Zealand First has been around for quite a number of years now.

With this experience you soon learn you can never take anything for granted.

If you do take things for granted, you run the risk of losing them.

It is particularly disturbing when this happens to citizens who have spent their adult lifetimes paying tax, holding down jobs, raising families, working for volunteer clubs and organisations, and being good citizens.

In New Zealand, when these people reach retirement age the government rightly provides some recognition of their contribution by two means – New Zealand Superannuation and the SuperGold Card.

New Zealand First is proud that through our determined efforts the SuperGold Card, in spite of strong opposition, came into being.

Even after the card was introduced this opposition continued.

There was a case in 2010 when Minister Steven Joyce decided secretly he wanted to chop free SuperGold Card transport on off-peak transport services.

Once Mr Joyce’s intentions became known you and New Zealand First took up the battle. Happily Mr Joyce’s covert action was beaten off.

He had to go away and think again, but in the meantime National placed a moratorium on all new travel concession applications. One ferry service in Auckland had the concession whilst a new one was denied it.

You can never take anything for granted.

One of the lessons of life, and politics, is that you not only have to fight to gain something but you must fight to hang onto what you have gained.

So it is not a total surprise that we have seen further attacks on the SuperGold Card and superannuation affordability.

From July 1, cardholders around the country who want to take advantage of free off-peak travel wherever smart cards are used, will have to buy a new smartcard and pay $10.

If seniors travel to another part of the country, for example from Christchurch to Auckland, they will have to buy another new smartcard.

All of this goes right against the philosophy of the SuperGold Card which was designed to be totally free.

What the Government has done is cap funding for off-peak travel on public transportation and for any shortfall that occurs local authorities will have to pick up the tab – something which your regional council here, Environment Canterbury, is not happy about, and rightly so.

Basically the government is deceitfully undermining the SuperGold Card’s value and they want local councils to pay.

You have a right to feel you are being ripped off.

This action of the government is not in the spirit of what the SuperGold Card was all about.

New Zealand First gave the government a message in Northland last year in the by-election.

It’s time again to send them a message.

“Hands Off the SuperGold Card and Super.”

And tell them you will refuse to buy Metrocards for public transport here in Christchurch as well.

NZ SUPER

You must also tell the government to future proof NZ Super.

New Zealand First agrees with the Grey Power document written last year “Retirement Income from a Grey Power perspective (September 2015) which stated:

“We acknowledge KiwiSaver is an important savings vehicle. But from a ‘social contract’ standpoint, New Zealand Superannuation must continue to be provided for future generations, if a significant proportion of grandchildren and their descendants are to avoid ‘absolute poverty’ during their retirement years.”

New Zealand First shares your concerns over proposals from Treasury and scaremongering from other quarters to increase the qualifying age for National Super beyond the age of the present 65.

Treasury bombastically claims NZ Super is becoming too expensive for the country. They, and others, do so without a fact to back them up.

The fact, is at 4.3 percent of GDP, the cost of New Zealand superannuation is relatively low by international standards.

This compares very well with an OECD average of around 7 %.

Because NZ Superannuation is taxable, its cost net of tax is around 3.7% of GDP.

So do not be taken in by the propaganda which flows from the Beehive and from wet behind the ears bean counters, that New Zealand Superannuation is unaffordable.

You must be aware, however, that like the SuperGold Card, Mr Key and his government do not like New Zealand Superannuation.

They think it is a weight on New Zealand’s financial back.

You need only consider recent history to gain an understanding of the National government’s attitude to superannuation.

They are the ones who increased the surtax, increased the age of eligibility, who lowered the level of entitlement and capped the travel concession. They argue about the increasing superannuation numbers, as if such an argument would hold up for increased primary school or tertiary education numbers. If it’s poppycock to apply such an argument to primary school entrants and university entrants why would it have validity on NZ Super.

That tells you the real story: they do not like New Zealand Superannuation in spite of the fact it is affordable and will be affordable well into the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, the critical issue on the affordability of any social welfare policy is the relationship between population growth and GDP growth. And the truth is that while our population is growing the failure of present government economic policies means that GDP growth is not keeping up with it. And the main component of population growth that we can control is unfocused immigration. However the government is hell bent on consumption instead of production, manufacturing and exports, and seeks to cover off its failure with self-serving egregious arguments.

If we want to solve our social problems whilst providing adequate police numbers for example then we must provide enhanced economic performance policies, something which the facts prove after seven years National, despite all the spin, prove unable to do.

Moreover, they have suspended contributions to the future cost smoothing Cullen Fund, preferring instead tax cuts for the rich.

New Zealand First believes, however, that superannuation can be made more affordable if New Zealand was not, as it is now, a fully funded rest home for other countries.

We say only New Zealanders and those who have qualified by length of stay and other requirements should get the full pension.

In this country a migrant can come to New Zealand at the age of 55, live here 10 years and contribute nothing and qualify for a full pension- 82,000 people have done so in the last 15 years.

National won’t confront this matter because they are so politically correct and lack the fortitude to face up to these facts. Tell any overseas politician of this entitlement of up to 10 years and this over-generous policy, so why do we?

These people get the same money as you, even though you have contributed all your working lives and they haven’t.

We say changes must be made in entitlement criteria so that payments are adjusted directly proportionate to the years of residence.

AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE BILL

It was very disappointing that our Affordable Healthcare Bill failed to get past its first reading in the House.

This bill was supported by New Zealand First, Labour and the Maori Party, but was not supported by National, Greens, ACT and United Future, and failed 75 votes to 46.

We wanted a 25 per cent health insurance rebate for people aged over 65, a requirement that migrants have health insurance on arrival and maintain it in New Zealand for 10 years, as well as the removal of fringe benefit tax from health insurance to avoid penalising employers who provide insurance for staff.

This bill would have alleviated pressure on the public health system and would have been fairer for Kiwis who have contributed to the economy.

But the bill did not pass even though it was urgently needed.

Again, the demise of the Affordable Healthcare Bill speaks volumes about the National government.

This after all is policy that is the essence of conservative thinking which shows that they are not conservatives but opportunists and reactionaries.

FLAG

You have to ask, what sort of a government jettisons the possibility of such legislation while at the same time wastes $26 million of taxpayers’ money on flag referendums?

Why didn’t Mr Key think twice before he embarked on his egotistical project to get his name in the history books?

Why didn’t he think of the long lists of people waiting to have surgery; why didn’t he think of the seniors worrying about their power bills and how they will pay them; why didn’t he think of the young people trying to get a start in life who are finding it harder and harder to get a job?

No, he wanted his new flag even if it cost $26 million and when it all failed he expects us to forget about the obscene waste of money and accept his platitudes that we had a good debate.

No debate is worth $26 million.

ENGLISH’S COMMENTS

No doubt you would have heard recent comments by the Minister of Finance Mr English in which he described some of our young New Zealanders as being unreliable and hopeless when it comes to working on farms.

He said also the reason why his government was “permissive” with immigration was to plug employment on farms.

Instead of making young New Zealanders more employable by ensuring they have a better education and some training, this is how the government works.

They opt for the short-term quick fix option: Bring in migrants.

They don’t think through the consequences of this policy – that the risk of unemployment among New Zealanders born here spreads to yet another generation and with it the growth of a permanent under-class.

New Zealand First is extremely concerned that too many young people are becoming disillusioned and disengaged and ending up on the scrapheap.

Statistics show more than 70,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 are not in education or training – they are just drifting.

Not all of them would be suitable for farm work. But some of them would be.

To help this at-risk group, we have a Youth Employment, Training and Education Bill which would place many of these young people in the army, where they would be schooled in literacy and numeracy. They would learn the discipline of turning up with the intention of being fully engaged and they would perhaps learn a trade.

These are the sorts of policies which are needed in New Zealand.

Not comments from a minister about Kiwis being “hopeless” and “unreliable,” nor a government actively pursuing a “permissive” immigration policy.

THE FUTURE

No doubt many of you spend some time reflecting on the society we have today and the state of the country we will hand on to our children and grandchildren.

There’s no doubt the character of our society, of which we were once so proud of, is being eroded.

Inequality has grown, and it will continue to grow with the rise and rise of house prices, particularly in Auckland.

Young people just can’t get into home ownership. Prices are too high and many only have casual and part-time jobs when they need full-time work.

Competition is high for Kiwis for housing and jobs.

Immigration is running at 100-year highs fuelling the housing market, along with foreign investors and a weak response by the government to supply.

Immigrants are ousting Kiwis for low-skilled jobs.

A quarter of a million people are coming in on visas each year and want a job. With migrants, many heavily in debt, desperate for money, it’s tough luck for New Zealanders.

Migrants will accept any conditions with loan sharks in their home country holding their families over a barrel.

A University of Auckland study found one in five people on work visas are paid below the minimum wage and are not paid for many hours they work.

There are only 55 labour inspectors in the whole country. They cannot monitor this situation.

It’s not the migrants’ fault. National created this circus by extending work hours for foreign students.

The Export Education sector, instead of bringing foreign money in is actually debt-financed migration. So now we have a society in which the younger generation is shut out of home ownership - the Kiwi dream – a recognised contributor to a stable upbringing for any Kiwi child. They compete for jobs with immigrants in their own country.

The government turns a blind eye to all this. The Ministers shrug and walk away in the knowledge that “comfortable NZ”, the ones with property wealth, will turn up at the polling booth. Meanwhile, those missing out need to be inspired to vote, in response to the government’s apathy towards their interests. Otherwise, in this society, inequality will grow as the government shrugs and waltzes on regardless.

Conclusion

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, unlike the government, New Zealand First treats our senior citizens with the respect they have earned and deserve.

We show that respect by our policies which we stand by in spite of much criticism.

We believe the SuperGold Card and New Zealand Superannuation are vitally important in allowing our seniors to live with dignity in their later years.

Ladies and gentlemen don’t take your Super or SuperGold Card for granted.

And send them a resounding message now. Hands off our SuperGold Card and our Super.

ENDS

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