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Elections 2005 and the Pension Abuse Website Six years ago, with the failure of the National Government to correct anomalies in NZ Super, many older people - former migrants in particular - looked with renewed hope to Ms Clark and her Coalition Government to adopt a positive approach towards addressing the glaring injustices in the state retirement program. The initial signals from the new Minister for Social Development, Mr Steve Maharey, were encouraging.
The Labour-led Government failed for two full Parliamentary terms to implement any of the state retirement program changes that had been recommended as being in the national interest. Mr Maharey did nothing but fabricate excuses for doing nothing.
For thousands of disaffected pensioners wanting justice, the odds are next to impossible: they come up against a hostile Ministry, a government that won’t listen, a Human Rights Commission that has basically closed its doors and a legal system that is prohibitively expensive and unlikely to be successful.
In August 2005 with elections approaching, the initial website nzpensionabuse.org was set up by a handful of amateurs with the intent to inform interested parties throughout New Zealand of the truth - and the lies - about New Zealand’s “Universal Pension”. The site attempted to persuade people that where every avenue to seek justice appeared blocked, if thousands of people whose pension rights had been abused acted collectively, they could become a powerful voice - a voice the nation could simply no longer ignore.
For the first time in the history of New Zealand, rather than having to rely exclusively on the Retirement Commissioner, MSD/WINZ and/or Cabinet Ministers for information on NZ Super and overseas pensions, a new source of information had become available offering a completely different perspective. Politicians began visiting the site.
By the time election-day arrived, five of the seven political parties had made it known that they now recognized the current system of NZ Super treated many people unfairly. Although responses varied, all agreed that the extent of unfairness was a matter of concern - and needed to be addressed. Shortly after the elections, Mrs Tariana Turia, Leader of the new Maori Party, signaled her Party’s concern and support for a more equitable system. Where the nation’s retirement policies are concerned, the Labour Party now stands alone.
In forging a fragile coalition government, the Prime Minister was forced to enter a Supply and Confidence Agreement with NZ First Leader, Rt Hon Winston Peters. Mr Peters, the first politician to be given a copy of the February 2003 Review and the first to be informed about the website, insisted on the insertion of the following into the Speech from the Throne at the opening of the new Parliament:
“Work will…be undertaken to investigate ways to improve options for senior citizens who may be eligible for foreign pensions as well as New Zealand Superannuation.”
In January 2006, after sections of the web site were bought to the attention of the Human Rights Commission, General Manager Ms Joanna Collinge responded by announcing that the Commission would conduct a thorough internal review to be completed by the end of April 2006. The Commission gave permission for Ruth's complaint to be resubmitted and announced its intention to re-examine every complaint of pension discrimination that it had received. These announcements constitute a major development for all pensioners affected by Section 70.
At its Annual General Meeting in May 2006, the Grey Power Federation passed the following remit:
"That to solve the problem of overseas pensions being deducted from New Zealand Superannuation, Grey Power urges legislation to treat personal pension fund contributions overseas as personal wealth which can be imported or repatriated as any other personal wealth."
Grey Power is eminently qualified to urge such legislation: overseas pensioners are battling the very same clawbacks Grey Power came into being to oppose.
Founded to affirm and protect the statutory right of every New Zealand resident to a sufficient NZ Super entitlement and to oppose all discriminatory and disadvantageous legislation, Grey Power has recognized that in the midst of its apparent success in the 1990s in having NZ Super re-established as an entitlement which is not means tested, one group of superannuitants was left behind - the ones for whom NZ Super is not an entitlement - and is means tested.
The closest an obstinate government has come to admitting to unfairness in the system is Dr Cullen's argument that "limitations" (inequities) have been built into the system in order for it to remain financially viable - limitations he is reluctant to see discontinued. Not everyone shares the same set of values as Dr Cullen. When everyone pays through taxation for a pension in retirement, to argue that some people will have to forfeit the pension the rest receive - in order for the system to remain viable - is morally unacceptable.
Mr Benson-Pope, the only Cabinet Minister to acknowledge having visited the website, considered it “one-sided": “There are two sides to every story.” From a Ministry that has specialized for years in imposing unilateral decisions and closing its ears to legitimate grievances, such a response seems decidedly two-faced.
Any conscientious person elected to high public office, when faced with two contrasting positions on a major policy issue on which he or she has to make decisions important to the national interest, would surely examine both closely for veracity. A careful reading would show that the contents of the web site - though material not solicited by the government - was authoritative and well researched. If Mr Benson-Pope had read the web site material - as he claimed to have done - it would have been obvious that some of the information provided by his officials was glaringly wrong. If he had acted responsibly, he would have said then and there, "I need to find out the truth", and called for an immediate inquiry.
The Minister did no such thing, choosing instead to defer to the directive of his MSD Chief Executive:
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Last modified: February 21, 2007 |
