This is a speech given to a U3A audience
Thank you for the introduction I hope that I can add to your previous discussions in some positive way.

Grey Power and the Third Age.

To understand the relationship between Grey Power and the Third Age I consider that it is first necessary to define exactly what Grey Power is and what it represents.

What is Grey Power

Grey Power was founded some 17 years ago by a group of disaffected National Party supporters in Auckland who were outraged that the New Zealand Superannuation , as it is now called , was made subject, by the then Labour Government , to a rebate regime based on other income earned by the recipient.

This led to the formation of the Auckland Superannuitants Association ,who called upon other associations to be formed throughout the country.
The Labour government , then in power, had decided that this approach was equitable and our movement was founded to lobby to have the surcharge provisions removed.
Incidentally the National government that followed supported the regime and in the Mother of all Budgets in 1993 proposed an extreme rebate regime of 90 cents in the dollar. At the time the media was not in general , supportive of the government.

Because of this the Grey Power movement received great publicity and support from the media. Large public meetings were well covered in the printed media with the President of the time being a frequent guest on television programmes and on talk back shows.

The movement , which spread to the rest of the country where local Associations were quickly established , flourished having this support from the media and membership increased rapidly through the establishment of these autonomous Grey Power Associations throughout New Zealand , now numbering about 76 in all.

The Grey Power New Zealand Federation was established as the overall body to whom all the member Associations are affiliated .

How does Grey Power operate.

The governing body is the Grey Power New Zealand Federation and members of the Board of Grey Power New Zealand Federation are elected each year for the following year - the country is divided into seven regions and the Associations in the region or zone, elect a zone director while the other officers - President ,Vice President , Secretary , Treasurer and six other members are elected at the AGM.

The Board assigns portfolios to individual members of the Board and these portfolio holders in turn select a committee to assists him/her choosing members from the Board itself and also adding outside members.

We have portfolios for superannuation , health , law and order , education, 55+ , social services and energy.

We are basically an advocacy group and the Federation fulfills this role by making submissions to Parliament , presenting petitions to Parliament so that we can speak to them before the select committee , and visiting Ministers and Ministries to further the welfare of the elderly.

Individual Associations, who also may make representations to Ministers etc. , provide a variety of services to their local members - some have lists of approved tradesmen , extensive discount books listing local businesses that provide discounts and maintain contact with their own members through newsletters and monthly meetings with guest speakers.

To a large extent their activities on behalf of their members is more likely to involve interaction with local councils than interaction with government Ministers and Ministries.

Current situation

Once there was a change of Government the support of the media disappeared overnight because it was basically supporting the opposition and what Grey power was advocating was in opposition to the government thus the support was not actually to assist greypower but to provide support to a movement opposing the government policy.

Today we find it very difficult to obtain any publicity at all .

The original reason for founding Grey Power has been realized in that the New Zealand Superannuation is no longer means tested.

However during the last seventeen years besides continually pressing for the removal of the surcharge , the movement has broadened its aims and objectives to include all aspects that affect the elderly.
Despite many promises including the famous "No ifs No buts No maybes" it was not until the first coalition government that New Zealand First sponsored legislation saw the surcharge regime ended.

We are thus changed from a single purpose organization pursuing the removal of the surcharge to one with much broader aims and objectives.
We work in cooperation with both Age Concern and other Third Age organizations spread around the country..

In most areas Grey Power is represented on the local Age Concern Council and actively participates with them. Age Concern serves a different purpose in that they are a service organization to assist their members and we help them in an advocacy role a role which at times they find difficult because of their contract arrangements with government

There are some Third Age organizations around the country but we find that they are mainly concerned with mature employment services and in this regard we do support them.

Essentially we are an independent organization that has no central government or local government funding so we are willing to represent issues that may prejudice the funding of other elderly orientated organisations.

We have over the years that we have been established slowly established a presence with the political parties and our members are active on many government committees

The Third Age

How have we arrived at this Third Age .
We are the Third Age, which is a relatively new phenomena , as longevity has increased from approximately 40 years at the beginning of the 19th Century - today it is more like 75 male and 80 female.

Life expectancy seems to have increased by approximately 2yrs per decade.

Nowadays, it is the oldest age group - those over 85 who are the fastest growing section of the community, and the well quoted demographics accents this for the year 2050 with little comment on the comparative birth rate.

Longevity has a side product in that while people are living longer the birth rate is also declining as there is no need to raise large families to guard against child mortality which no longer applies . Also people are marrying later and because of this having less children.

Should we , as this longevity is indeed with us, rethink the age of retirement - as after all 65 years was the age when lives were a great deal shorter ?

What contributes to this longevity apart from the advances in medical science,?
Lifestyle is a contribution and a starting point is nutrition - we all need Vitamin C as an important anti oxidant.
Ageing results from accumulation of damage . If we remove known sources of damage from our consumption it will slow the process.

Long lives of Japanese are attributable to their diet - fresh vegetables fish and Soya products . Mediterranean people vegetables fish and olive oil and happily wine.

Another choice is exercise - good in youth but we are less aware that it takes on a greater , rather than lesser significance as we grow old . Old people must regularly perform at the limit of their physical ability .
Exercise for the brain is as important as exercise for the body . Memory loss due to age is much exaggerated. We must ensure that over protection does not create or reinforce self doubt or anxiety - if considered weak spirited because they are frail then we do them disservice as they need encouragement and support.

Creating a better society for older people now , we are not stealing from the young but investing in their future as well

We would like to remove age from all medical records and let the biological state speak for itself . That way you will treated because of what is wrong with you not because of how old you are.

We are concerned re the increasing debate by politicians and others about the costs and ethics of treating old people with limited life expectancy which is why we would like to remove age from all medical records.

Grey Power and the Third Age.

The majority of our members are in their Third Age, with a relatively small number in the Fourth Age.
Most are reasonably healthy and lead quite active lives.
Most are unprepared for the entry into this Age unlike the two previous ages where education and experience plays a major part. A relatively small percentage probably , from your membership, will have prepared for the change by attending lectures or seminars but the majority no

There is also no set number of years when this occurs as although most are deemed to arrive , when reaching retirement age and eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation but there are others who are less fortunate in that they have suffered redundancy, ill health , difficult personal relationships etc at an earlier age so that their entry is earlier.

Entry to the Third Age.

Entering the third age is an interesting experience and generally occurs when one retires from working life.

In the past nothing has been done to prepare for this, as in fact, very little thought is given to it by the individual - it just happens and is generally preceded by a farewell at the place of work.
People with whom you have been over many years associated with , continue to work and their interest in you is dramatically reduced. Golf , bowls and other activities are taken up in earnest but this means sometimes a complete rethink of activities , cultivating new friends which for some is difficult.

Part of the retirement process should include some preparation for a vastly different , in most cases lifestyle , but there is really nothing.

Third Age and the Home.

For the majority of our generation , the greatest difference is however in the home - this has been the place where you left early in the morning and returned late in the day to eat and sleep and where you spent your weekends which in a great deal of cases was spent in social occasions with family and friends .

In my generation the person that left the home to support the family was the male and the spouse stayed at home to raise the children and care for the home.

It is however currently protected territory and as such belongs to the spouse as it has been that way over many previous years . Your continual presence is essentially an invasion of her space and you seem to always under her feet. The toleration that was extended over the weekend was missing over the full week.

This may seem trivial but unless there has been an active plan as to how you are to enjoy your third age, feelings of boredom, hopelessness and uselessness may well prevail.

There are some of us, and I talk from the fact that I am male , that do not survive too many years of the third age because of this unprepared ness.

In the majority of circumstances the male has been the single financial contributor to the house and the female has nurtured both the children and the house. The different circumstances in living full time in the home is a problem , : the spouse does alright , as her circumstances to all intents and purposes have not changed except that her domain may be a little threatened, which may be the reason why so there are so many widows in the third age , but the male could well have problems for which he is totally unprepared.

However most of us manage to survive once the relationships in the house are sorted. Grey Power has no plans for this home situation as members are already in the Third age when they join but does believe that it is a problem not well debated or even well recognized. - perhaps a polytech course on entering retirement sponsored by the retirement commissioner.

For future generations this may well not be the case as some individuals in relationships/marriage prefer to pursue their own careers and in some cases economic necessity requires both to work. This results in quite a different living arrangement than our generation experienced

Thus the future may well have other difficulties for those people that have led their own individual lives and now find that they are spending much more time together.

Now some comments on our activities in the Third Age.

We are a lobby or advocacy group and here are four of the areas in which we are active

One - Third Age and the Non Qualified Spouse.

Most of the audience will probably have planned and saved for the Third Age so that money matters will not be a problem but to a large number this is not so. A typical problem is the regime for the Non Qualified Spouse.

Unless one has married someone with the same birthday this problem occurs for all couples when one of the partners reaches the age of entitlement to New Zealand Superannuation.
At this time the couple are offered a choice of either living on the full payment of NZS for the qualifier plus the income from other sources or if there is little extra income and a single payment to the qualifier is insufficient , applying for a lesser amount of the NZS and a benefit for the non qualified spouse which is income tested.

The income however is the combined income for the couple not just for the NQS so that any income like investments and private superannuation affects the benefit level payment as it is abated after $80 gross per week.

We find it unacceptable that a couple should over their working life be considered as separate entities for tax purposes but when one reaches the age of entitlement for NZS they are treated as a couple and continuously promote a change to this regime.

Two - Third Age and health

Probably most of the audience will have private health insurance and this during the working life is really not a problem.

We as an organization promote a publicly funded free health service and while we support fully the right of individual members to decide whether they wish private health insurance we do not promote same as it inevitably reflects on the public system.

However in the Third Age it becomes a problem not because of calls on the insurance but the affordability. Premiums rise steeply as you enter the third age and continue to rise to the extent that for most they become an impossible burden .

That is why we advocate hard for fully funded free public health system. We have currently severe reservations about the current health system and whether it will provide the service and care that is required.

We readily accept that the emergency treatments are first class and that once in the system as a patient the treatment cannot be faulted.
The problem is to gain entry to the system which in our opinion largely conceals the real level of public health.

Treatment is readily available in the private system and even specialists that work in the public system as well as private practice have a tendency to ask the public patient whether health insurance is available.

The current system requires the GP to refer a patient requiring elective surgery to a specialist to assess the patients needs . Based on this assessment a number of points are allotted to the patient - if high enough then patient will be placed on the waiting list , if not then referred back to the GP who at a time in the future when the condition deteriorates sufficiently refers the patient to specialist for re-assessment.

This effectively means that this undisclosed waiting list of people who need treatment but not sick enough to merit it is shuffled between GP and specialist.

We campaigned unsuccessfully to have this sector of the unwell included in the health and disability commissioners brief without success so they are still the lost waiting list unrecognized for political reasons by the politicians but we continue to press for recognition of this undisclosed waiting list .

We have made submissions to the various strategies compiled by the present government on the above but have failed to have the views incorporated and we also have responded to many discussion documents including standards for Rest Home and Private Hospital safety.

Three - Third Age and long term care.

Most of us in the Third Age have been raised with customs and aspirations quite different to those that are mainstream today as will be the same for those in the Third Age twenty years from now.

We were taught to not buy anything unless you had the cash to pay for it and also taught that there is great safety in bricks and mortar. Thus most of us own our own home and it is a desire that our children should be able to inherit the home once there is no use for it.

However all single people over 50 and married couples over 65 have to pay for their long term geriatric care if they are considered to have the assets and income to so do.

Other citizens get free care but not those in the Third Age.

The current regime requires that

During the time in care while the assets are being utilized to pay for that care, $5000 per annum can be given to family without payment of gift tax.

The contribution to the cost of care to be paid from assets and income is limited to $636 per week approximately $30,000 per annum .

The government currently legally takes unfairly $210 million per year from the elderly as a cost for their care . This breaches the Human Rights Act but is legal because it is enshrined in law - we are continually gnawing away at this problem.

Four - Third Age and jobless entry

While this may not be applicable to this audience the vast majority of people in the Third Age enter it with very little additional income other than the New Zealand Superannuation.

This particularly applies to those unfortunate individuals who have been the victims of the philosophy that "Young is beautiful and therefore intelligent " and and this has led to an economic philosophy that discards experience for youth.

There is absolutely no government sponsored re-training available for the mature worker that finds him/herself out of work as all the schemes are tailored for the young.

Older men particularly in the 51-55 age group who have been made redundant are particularly vulnerable. This group is 10-15 years from NZS and the unskilled will struggle to find jobs.. These people are placed on the community wage and this is income and asset tested so that by the time age for NZS is reached there are no savings and possibly not even a home.

In addition unemployment has a powerful influence on the emotional well-being of mature job seekers . there is stigma attached to joblessness as we are a country where paid work is valued and a strong work ethic admired . For hundreds of older workers who want to work, unemployment means social exclusion and isolation.

We are actively advocating more assistance and training for the mature job seeker as without work this group faces an unhappy ill-financed third age.

Third Age and money

Even with full employment until retirement there is still the vast majority that have little extra income over the NZS.
Whether this causes hardship depends entirely on the individual circumstances such as owning or renting accommodation , replacing worn out appliances , maintaining existing premises.

Because so many Third Age people own their own home there are some who are asset rich but cash strapped .The greatest current inroads into the finances of these people are the continuous increase in rates and energy , well above the CPI adjustments available to the recipients of the NZS which after all is a fixed income.

However it does raise the question as to the adequacy of the level of the NZS. The last government cut the level of the NZS because of the downturn of the Asian economies - why the Third Age people were to solve this problem alone we are not sure.
The level was dropped from 65% to 60% of the nett after tax average weekly wage but this has been restored to currently be 67%.
Mind you the married rate is the total paid to each partner so that the individual gets only 32 1/2 % of the nett average wage - not as most assume 65% - successive governments have failed to clarify this distinction as it is politically expedient to show the NZS as a drain on current earners and if the impression is that it is 65% why enlighten them.

But at the same time as this lowering of the level the basis of calculating the average wage was changed. The Average wage comes from the Quarterly Employment Statistics and changes to these statistics meant that in effect the average wage was lowered so that not only was the percentage lowered but the base also.

We are pressing for an evaluation of the adequacy of the level of NZS because the elderly are now approaching the food banks , albeit only at the rate of one a day , but this is from a segment of the population that has mores and customs which makes accepting charity only a last resort.

Third Age and the voluntary sector.

Mention needs to be made of the contribution by the third age to the volunteers that provide so many services in the community .
Recognition was made albeit belatedly and rather reluctantly by Sir Ross Hansen's Commission on positive ageing of the huge contribution by elderly to hands on charitable support , not only to other elderly recipients.
In the health area Treasury estimate that the voluntary contribution by the elderly is in the region of $5 billion per annum.

Third Age and the political process.

The only real process left to us apart from casting a vote at an election is to make a submission in the select committee process.
This can originate two ways - either against a petition that you have submitted to Parliament via your local member of Parliament or against a Bill that has been sent to the select committee for consideration.

A petition to Parliament can have as few as 3/4 signatures and once tabled is referred to the appropriate committee , the Chair of which decides whether it deems consideration and acts accordingly which consists of asking the petitioner to present a written submission and also people whom were deemed to support or oppose to also submit.

We have spoken to two petitions recently - on concerning lack of funds for home help services and the other about the lack of winter beds to cater for the influx of elderly in the winter.
We like to think that this petition was the start of the very successful Elder Care Canterbury project.

Requests for submissions against Bills are advertised - we have among others submitted on the Retirement Villages Bill and appeared before the committee in support of our submission just last month.

However one doesn't really know whether your submission has had any effect but we keep on trying.

Third age and IT

We need to make some comment on the knowledge economy

There has been an enormous advance in information technology - computers , mobile phones etc. .
This had the potential to revolutionalise the lives of older people but the oldest age group have benefited least, basically because the industry has made conspicuously little effort to take older people into consideration.

All the magazines and papers for the elderly just do not carry advertisements for IT equipment but rather the opposite, it being rest homes ,natural medicines, investment consultants and crematoriums.
Except for personal alarms, IT products are directed to the young - in computers display fonts are small , buttons fiddly and options complicated.

The over 65 age group contains 20% of population , many with financial and leisure opportunities to make extensive use of these facilities . We need many more places for introductory computer courses so that older people can master this technology - at this time once again we have about 100 voluntary organizations under the banner of Seniornet doing the this service when it should be a government action.

IT can transform the lives of older people providing contacts , information entertainment and access to specialized services.

Consider the advances at the other end of the age grouping - the pram is now a buggy, the child car seat now a vastly different item from the initial mechanic fitted object, the bicycle where once we were proud to have a 3 gear stormy-archer bike is totally transformed

We need a different attitude to the elderly as assertive technology can transform lives creating wealth and jobs opportunities into the bargain.

It is interesting that it was the shortage of male labour during the First World War that provided the impetus to advance the women's rights.
Maybe the shortage of young labour will win the battle against ageism
We have lost our sense of value of an older person's experience as we have become obsessed with the new young.

Third Age and politics

Grey Power is apolitical which is a term I take to mean we are not a political party. Our members are free to join any political party they wish and cast their votes according to their conscience and not at Grey power direction.

We are however political in the sense that we lobby Ministers and Ministries on behalf of the elderly to improve the welfare of our age group and we believe that this is our main objective for us in the Third Age.

You will all have seen the media shots which show certain politicians talking at one of the many meetings we have around the country.
You will notice that the camera inevitably concentrates on the line of grey haired audience listening attentively and in this regard we ask you to ponder on the fact that the meetings are in the afternoon and who else but the elderly will attend them ?

We do not support any political party nor do we advocate casting votes for any particular party but we are willing to give credit when we receive a fair outcome to our approaches.

Grey Power is involved in the Third Age because we are the Third age but we cannot claim any great contribution to the Third Age except that our motives are basically to improve the welfare of the elderly in the Third Age.

We are not a service organization as that is already well done by other organizations but we are a lobby organization and proud to be so.

Finally a quote from John Ralston Saul from his Doubters Companion when writing about democracy in its simplest terms wrote
" The key to its secret is the involvement of the citizen '

In an inevitably ageing population Grey power is trying to maintain the involvement of older citizens in the democratic process.

Thank you for listening to me.

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