Whether it did anyone any good is arguable but Parliament did at least heed the aged in its final sitting week by delivering just what our seniors needed — a special debate on the quality of life for ageing New Zealanders.
National Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell — 23 years away from qualifying for a SuperGold card — led off the debate, presumably in his capacity as chairman of the health select committee but also possibly as the representative of an area rich in retirees.
"It’s in everyone’s best interest that we can act in a bipartisan manner to make sure people of age live with dignity and respect, and in a way that’s also manageable and sustainable for the government."
Manageable and sustainable are the operative words here. As noted in Southern Say a few weeks back, successive governments have known for decades that a demographic bulge of baby boomers were advancing toward their golden years, demanding the pensions and healthcare that their taxes have paid for in the process.
Except politicians are still scrapping over just how to afford the ever-rising national superannuation bill and are even more stuck in the mud about funding healthcare facilities and the workforce needed to staff them.
As for the provision of suitable housing, that has largely been left to the private or charitable sectors. The former is an additional, potentially unaffordable cost to seniors, while the latter is having enormous problems being able to afford to deliver a sustainable service.
"Ensuring a sustainable supply of aged-care beds is critical to ensuring that all New Zealanders have the care they need as they age," Uffindell said.
"The recommendations from the [recently established] expert ministerial advisory group are expected in mid-2026, with changes to the funding model to be implemented in 2027. They’re significant policy implications and considerations, and they will shape future governments’ recommendations."
He then noted a $250 million-plus investment in residential aged-care sector funding over the past two years, but accepted that that was a short-term measure while the government awaited longer-term recommendations from the advisory group.
However, Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary, her party’s seniors spokeswoman, wanted more urgency than that, opening her speech by quoting an ODT headline from August 31: "Quality of life dropping for Otago seniors: survey".
"That wasn’t a slogan; that was a warning," she continued.
"The survey found that about two-thirds of Otago seniors reported a clear decline in their quality of life, and that decline was caused by the cost of living, health costs and mobility costs. Most concerning was that almost one in three said they had delayed seeking medical care because of money — one in three."
What was happening in Otago was not an outlier: the same story was being told right round the country, Leary said.
"I feel now like I’m channelling the late, great Jo Millar from Grey Power — from my electorate as well — may she rest in peace. If she was here, she would be saying costs are rising, support is shrinking, decisions are being made about seniors not with them and the result is a steady erosion of independence, dignity and security."
Leary then went through a shopping list of government policies which she claimed had made the cost of living unaffordable for many seniors. But what solutions she might have had for those problems had to wait for another day, given she had split her 10-minute call to allow Labour health spokeswoman Ayesha Verrall five minutes to spruik the party’s "Medicard" pledge.
The person best placed to actually make any difference whatsoever, Seniors Minister Casey Costello, was up soon after.
This is the bread and butter of her party, New Zealand First famously being staunch advocates for the elderly — let alone having arguably the country’s most prominent pensioner as its leader.
"First and foremost, protecting the age of superannuation is a bottom-line position for New Zealand First and part of our coalition agreement," she emphasised.
"We are increasingly put under pressure to raise the age of superannuation entitlement, but the reality is that we spend approximately 5% of our GDP on superannuation and that is considerably less than the OECD average ... that sum ensures that every single New Zealander is guaranteed a minimum income in their age. That is a simple, relatively straightforward system that is internationally revered as a good solution for the system that we have in New Zealand."
Over-65s were not a problem the country needed to solve, rather an opportunity for New Zealand to be a better place, Costello said.
"The reality is, in this country, we all sit underneath the shade of a tree planted by someone who lived before us, and we owe that dignity. New Zealand First will ensure that we protect the family so that we can have strong families, so that we can be accountable to our own futures.
"We can also be accountable to the people we owe our life to."
Whether this debate was the vehicle to drive that desired accountability is a moot point, but at least the issues remain on the radar screen.
Time served
This column has noted several times that Dunedin Labour MP Rachel Brooking has made many, many speeches as she did her part in various Opposition filibuster.
Now, thanks to the folk at RNZ’s excellent The House programme, comes "official" confirmation of her hard work. The programme pulled together a top 10 of MPs who had spoken most in the House this year and Brooking easily made the list, racking up a substantial 263 contributions.
Topping the table, by a country mile, with 396 was the Green’s impressive backbencher Lawrence Xu-Nan, who has quickly garnered a reputation as a thoughtful and forensic questioner.
