Election year is here again

This is election year and time to assess your position.

We have an election scheduled for the end of this year but as there may be an early one it seems prudent to comment on the current situation.

Basically all the current parties will be hoping to improve their position and this will involve a series of promises to the electorate which may or may not be kept. The old fashioned manifesto no longer seems to in vogue , in fact the very opposite is the situation in that there is very little in the way of policy from any of the parties available.

What policy there is is being released in dribs and drabs and major policies on superannuation and health from parties other than the government have yet to emerge. The government of course will be depending on the announcements in the budget to set out and substantiate its policies which will be announced after this newsletter has gone to press.

The two major parties Labour and National will be hoping to be the next government party and the others Alliance , Greens , ACT , New Zealand First and Progressive Alliance will align themselves with one of the main parties.

We have been shown by the present coalition that MMP can work if there is the will to make it work but it does take a toll on the parties involved.
Labour and the Alliance have both had to make concessions as far as policy is concerned , especially Alliance which will have some difficulty in establishing identifiable policy achievements.
Success like the Kiwibank and paid parental leave may well be attributed to the main government party , Labour.

National have changed their leader and this has yet to produce an upsurge in their poll figures. We have few policy statements from National apart from the fact that they don't like the Cullen Superannuation Fund and wish to limit the time to lodge Treaty of Waitangi claims, so really do not know what overall they currently stand for and what they propose .

Likewise for all the rest of the parties.

Superannuation seems doomed to continue to be an election issue as will be the health system which has yet to fully adjust to its latest reforms.

When you are considering your vote both electorate and party you may perhaps care to consider the following.

Superannuation.

The Government has set aside money to assist in the payment of superannuation for the baby-boomers coming on stream in about 2025.
There has been no details of how the fund is supposed to operate , who will control it and be responsible for the investment philosophy.
No alternate schemes have been mooted.
As for current recipients of NZS., the current government did indeed make some restoration of the level of the New Zealand Superannuation which was a fulfillment of an election promise as part of the credit card pledge.
The previous relationship of the minimum payment being 65% of the nett after tax ordinary weekly wage for a married couple has been restored and the main opposition party , National , has confirmed that they will maintain the 65% and the age of entitlement as 65.

Drivers licences.

This has been the subject of great procrastination as it has taken two years to get the obvious age discrimination for licence fees for the over 75 year olds but this only came about because the $29.50 set for the 10 year licences was inadequate to recover the costs involved.
However the 55-65 and 65-75 age groups will pay more while those over 75 will get some relief which we accept as being reasonable but long overdue in rectifying.

The current stance is that the charge for the current ten year licence is a once only increase but that remains to be proved as nothing is cast in concrete.

Despite the fact that the Minister has admitted that Conditional Licences under the current regime are impossible to get nothing has been done and there is no indication that anything is being done to rectify the situation.

To announce that there will be consultation on conditional licences is in our opinion not satisfactory.

Energy/electricity.

The cost of electricity is a major concern to our members yet the current government has done nothing but perpetuate the ill founded reforms of the previous government.

We agree that the current government did not initiate these reforms but we want lower prices not a continual review by people in favour of the reforms and not the plethora of excuses that we get for not regulating.

Recent tenders for major multi plant users attracted offers all around the 7c/kWH which tends to indicate that there is no competition and retailers have all decide what prices are required and are not undercutting.

We were shocked to hear the Minister state that New Zealand has the lowest price for electicity in the world and therefore despite all the recent increases we could not expect any price decrease..

No jusitificatuion was given for the statement about electricity prices here and we suspect that an advantageous exchange rate was used.

Health

We have considerable concern about the efficiency of the DHBs, which seem to have increased in administrative staff.
We have concerns that all statements from the Board must come from the chair which effectively muzzles the elected members.

There are lots of words and intentions about Assessment , Treatment and Rehabilitation units but there is still no action on ensuring that there be adequate A, T & R units to cater for the elderly in all DHBs.

The Health of Older Persons Strategy had very little to do with the elderly and was more a list of instructions from the MoH to DHBs- there were no details of how any objectives were to be achieved and no specific objectives just verbiage.

The original strategy was taken as a consultation document and the final document was due for launch in May and it may well contain some additional material.

The health system seems to bogging down in administration but probably no more than under other previous reforms.

Long term care

The elderly who have to pay for long term care that is given because of age discrimination to others free , pay $270 million per year .

We have been promised legislation during the current term to provide for income testing only

55+ problems

The plight of the 55+ section of the public (and incidentally a large section of our membership) and the non qualified partner both of whom are our future members has been placed in the too hard basket by the government.

The concept that during their working life partners incomes are considered as single tax entities but once one partner reaches age of entitlement they are considered as a single income entity for benefit purposes is just plain unfair.

We have been unable to progress this portfolio with the current government who maintain the same regime as the previous administration.

Ministry of Social Development , work and Income

There is a need to reestablish super centers which have been closed during the term of the previous government as presently the elderly first have to stand in line to make an appointment and then are interviewed in an open plan office being overheard by all.

Mature workers unemployment.

Because of unemployment, mature job seekers have anger frustration and increasing isolation as it means social exclusion due to the stigma attached to the unemployed in a society where paid work is valued and a strong work ethic is admired. Government training is limited to TOPS which has a youth focus so that many older workers generally regard TOPS as unsuitable.

Training of older workers and mature job-seekers needs to be better researched , rethought and the subject of informed debate and we should be leading the way.

We suggest that you note the policy statements of all parties on the above topics and from that judgment make your choice.

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