Grey Power September 2019

4
NZ GREYPOWER MAGAZINE » SEPTEMBER 2019
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
Winter is well and truly upon us and
it seems to have rained continuously
for the last several weeks. I hope you
are all looking after yourselves - and
avoiding the normal winter coughs
and colds.
FROM MAC WELCH
NATIONAL PRESIDENT GREY POWER NZ
FEDERATION INC.
The main topic of
conversation over
the weeks since the
AGM has been around
Kiwibank’s decision to
withdraw cheques at very
short notice.
New Kiwibank CEO,
Steve Jurkovich is adamant
that this decision is
irreversible, and this was
reinforced at a meeting
Roy Reid and I attended
at Kiwibank’s Auckland
headquarters on Tuesday,
July 16. The meeting
was arranged between
Kiwibank/FINZ and several
of the major charities
in New Zealand, to
discuss the impact that
Kiwibank’s decision to
discontinue cheques, will
have on these organisations.
Among those charities
and organisations
attending were the following:
Eldernet, Forest
& Bird, Arthritis Organisation,
Leprosy Mission,
Heart Foundation, St
John, SPCA, Age Concern
and Grey Power.
Roy and I were about
to leave the hotel for the
airport after attending
meetings in Auckland,
including the GPE. Board
meeting, when we received
a call from Eleanor
Bodger of Eldernet
informing us the meeting
was to begin within
the hour. We made what
turned out to be a worthwhile
decision to attend.
We were surprised at the
impact the Kiwibank decision
is going to have on
the charity sector. The
majority of their donations
come to them by way
of cheque. The charities
explained in the meeting
that, although they had
attempted to get regular
donors to donate by methods
other than cheque,
the donors expressed a
reluctance to do so.
Several suggestions
were expressed about
why this is so, although
no one could provide any
definitive answers. In
short, all the participants
Mac Welch, Grey Power national president.
of the meeting apart from
Kiwibank expressed the
opinion that this decision
would have a severe impact
on their bottom line.
They also expressed the
view that the lead time
given by Kiwibank was
ridiculously too short and
said there should have
been at least two years’
advance warning given, a
point of view which Grey
Power agrees with.
Kiwibank attendees
at the meeting reiterated
that the decision was irreversible
and quoted that
the cost of continuing to
provide a cheque service
would be un-sustainable.
When I enquired what
this cost, Kiwibank staff
declined to disclose the
figure.
The impact of this decision
on Grey Power and
Associations will also be
severe. As near as I can
ascertain through discussions
with Associations,
between 30-40 percent of
Association annual subscriptions
are paid by way
of cheque. Many of our elderly
members do not and
will not use telephone or
internet banking. This will
leave many associations
and the aforementioned
charities in the position of
having to transfer at least
part (if not all) their business
to one of the big four
Australian Banks.
The dates and location
of next year’s Annual General
Meeting have been
confirmed. The AGM will
be held at the Commodore
Hotel in Christchurch.
The dates it will be held
are Monday, 27, Tuesday
28, Wednesday 29 of July,
2020. More details will be
sent to associations before
Christmas 2019.
I was recently advised
of an association that is
intending to make chang-
Steve Jurkovich, Kiwibank CEO.
es to its Constitution without
any reference to Grey
Power Board. Associations
need to be reminded
of their Contract of Observance,
which they have all
signed as a condition of
membership of the Federation
and the right to use
the Grey Power name. An
association cannot make
any changes to its Constitution
without having
those changes first approved
by the Grey Power
Board, keeping in mind
that Association Constitutions
cannot be contradictory
to Grey Power Federation
Constitution. Once
the Association membership
at a properly constituted
meeting as per their
Association Rules, has
approved the changes and
they have been forwarded
to, and approved by
Grey Power Board, they
can then be forwarded to
Incorporated Societies
to be registered. But not
before.
The continuing turnover
of association officers
and committees
means that many associations
are unaware of
their responsibilities and
commitment under their
membership of Grey Power
Federation. All new association
officers should
familiarise themselves
with the Federation Constitution
and the bylaws
governing the Federation.
Copies of these documents
are available on
request from Federation
office.
Finally, I urge all members
to pay particular attention
to Kevin Gardener’s
report in this issue
(page 49) on the meeting
he and Mate Marinovich
attended titled “Upcoming
Cannabis Referendum
Report.” It is obvious from
the inter-action we have
had with the Drug Foundation
and the events that
took place at this meeting
that the Drug Foundation
are strongly in favour of
legalising recreational
Cannabis. This contravenes
Grey Power policy.
Double dipping anomalies
From page 1
the likely effects of this
policy change states that
its benefits are cost savings
of $13.05 million in
2020/21, $90.86 million
by 2023/24 and $237.57
million by 2030/31. But
despite the reasons given
for changes such as
streamlining of the superannuation
process, less
risk that people will be
dissuaded from working,
saving or investing up to
the NZS eligibility age, and
the cultural change which
means nowadays both
partners in most households
are in paid work,
for the women who will be
affected the future looks
bleak - especially because
the lead-in time is so short.
The NQP benefit will
cease from 1 July next
year even though a 2017
document released by
Treasury recommended a
lead in-time of five years,
as did the Retirement
Commissioner.
That is regardless of
the fact that affected peo-
ple will have virtually no
time to prepare for the
change. The document
referred to above blithely
points out these women
can find their way into the
workforce, they can apply
for a work seeker or some
other benefit at a lower
rate than the NQP benefit
or they can hope that
their partners will share
their income with them.
But wasn’t one of the main
reasons for the policy
change to treat partners as
individuals so they didn’t
have to rely on the benevolence
of a partner?
Personal experience
and much research has
taught me that workplace
ageist attitudes make it
almost impossible for older
people to find suitable
employment. And for the
government benefit scenario,
loss of self-respect
and dignity is likely because
Work and Income
can force older people
to undergo frequent job
search activities such as
funding (out of a very low
income) the cost of travelling
to seek inappropriate
or non-existent older persons’
work opportunities.
As it happens, since
the NQP policy announcement
- which has been
kept very quiet by the government
- some very upset
people have contacted me.
…for the
women who
will be affected
the future
looks bleak
- especially
because the
lead-in time is
so short.
Jean* was in tears as
she explained that she
and her husband had been
planning carefully for their
retirement for many years
and the NQP benefit was
to be part of this because
work outside the home
was not really a possibility
for her when her husband
retired.
She tells me “that N…
is an extremely competitive
job market and due
to my age, lack of any university
qualifications and
now… family constraints
[she provides care for her
grandson so her daughter,
a solo Mum, can work
to provide for herself and
her son] I have found the
job market impossible…
My husband has been a
manual worker since he
left school … and his body
will not allow him to work
past 65… Lack of public
consultation… and a mere
12 months’ notice for such
a drastic change … is hardly
what you would expect
from a well-being budget.”
Jim* was very upset
because he and several
friends had worked most
of their lives in hard manual
jobs and he said that:
“We are counting the
days until we turn 65
years old and can receive
the pension; our bodies
are knackered, but now
we find out that our wives
who are several years
younger than us can’t get
the non-qualified partner
benefit and so we will have
to stay working until they
turn 65. We can’t live on
a single pension and we
thought we only had a year
or so to work. Now that’s
all changed.”
When he applied for
NZS recently Bill* was
very shocked to discover
that from next year the
NQP benefit would be unavailable:
He asked: “Has Grey
Power dropped the ball
or ignored the 50-65s? I
have just applied for my
National Super. To my
surprise I was told that
the ‘non-qualified partner’
provision would no longer
be available from 2020.
“As my wife is 10 years
younger than me, we had
intended to work a few
more years and retire together.
This now means
my wife works till she’s 65
and I’m 75 or we live on
a single pension and our
modest savings.
“The Work and Income
web site makes no mention
of this, I have seen
nothing from Grey Power
about this change to the
rules. I cannot understand
how Grey Power has not
picked this up and challenged
the government.”
Several of Grey Power’s
relevant national advisory
groups have researched
this issue and after discussion
at the recent Federation
Board meeting we decided
to recommend to the
Wellington decision-makers
that the lead-in time
be extended to five years
instead of implementing
the change next year.
The 50 Plus advisory
group has also suggested
that its NQP submission
include:
• Its policy to advocate
for the provision of
training for Work and
Income case managers
to address the specific
needs of older work
seekers
• Working with other
agencies to rescind
the 2007 amendments
to the Social Security
Act 1964, which added
work test sanctions
for those 60 years and
over.
(*names have been changes
for privacy reasons.)