Grey Power March 2017

NZ GREYPOWER MAGAZINE » MARCH 2017 41
ADVOCACY REPORT
From page 39
and the Hon Peter Dunne agreed with
Grey Power policy that the SCG should
be an ID card with a photo. He suggested
that ‘realme’, a service for govt. consumers
which can be used in two ways: to
prove who you are when you’re online,
and to log into lots of New Zealand sites
and services could be jelled with the SGC
MEETING WITH THE LABOUR HOUSING
SPOKESPERSON PHIL TWYFORD
- discussed affordable housing following
the Rotorua Association’s request that
Grey Power contributes to the discussion
on the emerging challenge of housing
NZ’s Seniors based on the Salvation Army
paper entitled ‘Homeless Baby Boomers
Housing Poorer Baby Boomers in their
Retirement’ – author Alan Johnson SA
policy analyst http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/sites/default/files/uploads/2
0151201SPPUSAHomelessbabyBoomers
rReportwebv1.pdf
Grey Power policy objectives are to
confirm Grey Power Federation support
for measures designed to facilitate and
encourage the development of small high
quality housing units with minimum life
time costs and to gain Government commitment
to considering the adoption of
innovative solutions to the cost of housing.
Thus, we consider both owner-occupied
and rental accommodation and
support the following recommendations
from the Salvation Army paper;
that the accommodation supplement be
reviewed, that Government engage local
government in an initial debate to
consider local housing markets and the
need to cater for a migrating population
of older people to regional cities and
towns, that a residential care strategy be
prepared and backed with sufficient budgets
to ensure adequate provision of aged
care facilities over the next ten years and
that a programme of interventions be developed
to limit the risk of those in late
middle age and early old age. This means
that the Grey Power Federation and its
constituent associations are concerned
about the emerging challenge of housing
NZ’s seniors and the measures taken by
the Government to address some of the
issues. It acknowledges the complexity
of the problem but considers that prefabrication,
standardised design and
centralised evaluation of design and construction
standards would address many
problems.
Grey Power’s gain was, because it
agreed substantially with Labour’s hous-
50172
BUY – SELL – SWAP
RENT – NOTIFY – BUY
Grey Power Lifestyle Quarterly now accepts classifieds advertisements. These advertisements are
for the exclusive use of members of Grey Power, excluding commercial business. Cheques payable
to: Waikato Business Publications, PO Box 1425, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240.
FOR SALE
Grey Power CLASSIFIED AD COUPON
ing ideas, to receive and accept the opportunity
to work with Labour on affordable
housing; part of Grey Power’s input will
be to organise focus/discussion groups to
ascertain what older people want.
MEETING WITH OFFICE OF SENIORS
- The lobby team met Diane Turner,
the new Director of the Office for Seniors
and others.
The Retirement Commissioner’s three
yearly Review of Retirement Income Policies
– It was suggested that Grey Power
visit the website for information re this
review http://www.cffc.org.nz/retirement/retirement-policy/,
and household
Living-costs Price Indexes (HLPIs) published
by Statistics NZ – it was explained
that wage rates drive superannuation
rates – more information available at
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_
stats/economic_indicators/prices_indexes/HouseholdLivingCostsPriceIndexes_HOTPSep16qtr
were discussed as was
Section 70 of the Social Security Act.
Grey Power policy is to support the
principles of S70 of the Social Security
Act designed to discount an individual’s
New Zealand national superannuation
by the value of an overseas, state funded,
pension they receive and requests Government
to investigate address unfair
anomalies for New Zealanders.
Questions were asked by Grey Power
– the answers were provided by Lynne
Cousins (Team Manager, Older Peoples’
and International Policy, MSD). She also
informed that the purpose of S.70 is to
eliminate the possibility of a person receiving
two state old age or other pensions
(double-dipping) based on the belief
that an immigrant to NZ will not be
advantaged over a resident who has lived
her/his entire life in NZ.
Q. How are decisions made about whether
an overseas pension is a voluntary pension
or not and who makes that decision?
A. Most countries have occupational
pension systems in which employees and
employers must make compulsory contributions.
Some countries also allow a
person to make voluntary contributions
in certain situations. For example, in
Switzerland there is voluntary coverage
for some salaried workers who are ineligible
for mandatory insurance.
Our deductions are based on the information
we receive from the overseas
pension agency. We require the client to
contact the agency that administers their
pension and get a written response. They
will advise the client what portion of the
payment is based on voluntary contributions.
We then treat the overseas pension
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accordingly.
All decisions regarding the composition
of the overseas payment are made
by the overseas paying agency. As mentioned
above, they will advise the client
what portion is based on voluntary contributions.
Q. Is the policy of deducting a person’s overseas
pension from their partner’s NZS an infringement
of human rights?
A. The Human Rights Commission has
considered the policy but has never made
a ruling that the policy is an infringement
of human rights.
In the allocation of limited public
funds the Government expects that married
couples will financially support each
other and thereby be treated as a single
economic unit. Spousal deduction is an
equitable measure to ensure that people
who have worked overseas are not entitled
to a greater overall level of government
retirement support than those who
had solely resided and worked in New
Zealand.
Q. How can we answer members who tell us
they have received incorrect or misleading
advice re DDP?
A. Work and Income is committed to service
excellence. If they are not meeting
this standard your members should tell
Work and Income so they can do something
about it.
Information about how to make a
complaint is at the following address:
https://www.workandincome.govt.
nz/about-work-and-income/complaints/
index.html#null
Q. Why do people apply for NZS and not just
receive their overseas pension direct from the
country of origin?
A. People who receive overseas pensions
Grey Power
The active organisation for those 50+
The Grey Power Magazine is published quarterly by Waikato Business Publications
for the Grey Power New Zealand Federa ower NZ Federation Inc is incorporated
under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908.
Subscription inquiries:
Grey Power Federation
P.O. Box 272 1719
Papakura 2244
Auckland
Phone: 09 299 2113
Email: fed-office@xtra.co.nz
The next issue of The Grey Power Magazine will be
published in June 2017. Deadlines are:
Editorial: Friday, 19th May
Advertising: Wednesday, 24th May
Delivery Address:
The Grey Power Magazine
12 Mill Street, Hamilton 3200
P.O. Box 1425, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240
Phone: 07 838 1333 • Fax: 07 838 2807
Editor: Mike Blake
Email: mike@wbn.co.nz
Mobile: 0272 488 442
Production Manager: Tania Hogg
Email: tania@wbn.co.nz
Phone: 07 838 1333
Advertising inquiries:
Debbie Jamieson
Email: Debbie@wbn.co.nz
Phone: 07 838 1333 • Mobile: 027 229 0202
have two options:
1. They can receive their overseas pension
direct from the country of origin
into to their own bank account.
They then need to provide Work and
Income with details of the overseas
pension payments from their bank
statements so that their New Zealand
Superannuation payments can be adjusted.
The pensioner will generally
be liable for tax on the overseas pension.
2. Some countries that have a social security
agreement with New Zealand
have agreed that their pensions can be
paid into a special New Zealand government
bank account. The pensioner
then receives the full rate of their New
Zealand Superannuation and they do
not have to worry about paying tax or
dealing with currency fluctuations.
Q. Is there a possibility of a review of S.70 to
remove possible anomalies?
A. At this stage, we are not aware of any
plans by the government to review section
70.
The Commission for Financial Capability
has just completed a review of
retirement income policies. The review
recommended a number of changes to
section 70. The Government will consider
the Commission’s recommendations in
due course.
Enduring Power of Attorney (EPAs) =
draft forms were also discussed
There are to 2 sets of explanations and
forms (see EPA personal care and welfare
= http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/
about-msd-and-our-work/publication-
sresources/epa/epa-personal-care-and-
Continued on page 43
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is published in good faith
and has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, neither
the Grey Power New Zealand Federation Inc. nor any person involved in the preparation of
this publication accepts any form of liability whatsoever for its contents, including editorials,
advertisements, opinions, advice or information, or for any consequences for its use. Grey
Power New Zealand Federation Inc is a non-political organisation with no affiliation to any
political party or political group. ISSN 1173-2415