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Possums were introduced from Australia in 1837 to jump-start New Zealand's fur trade. Now they are considered pests and are poisoned with 1080. Immigrants come to New Zealand to boost the economy. To make them not feel too comfortable, the Government has invented Direct Deduction and Spousal Provision. The latter was discontinued in November 2020.
Although they get no longer punished for being in a relationship with the "wrong" partner, we keep the personal stories of the victims of the Spousal Provision on our website because these people have suffered the most significant injustice of New Zealand's Direct Deduction Policy, some even for decades. Their stories are proof of how inhumane this law is and with how much contempt they have been treated by the New Zealand government and its ruthless bureaucrats in the Ministry.
Fighting pensioners at the Auckland Forum 2010, from left to right: Joachim Rehbein, Ruth and Bill Humphrey, Barry Mora (who died in October 2021 without having found justice in New Zealand's pension system).
Tired of being treated like introduced parasites
The Public Forum in Auckland on 24 February 2010 ("New Zealand Superannuation and Overseas Pensions: Issues and Principles for Reform") was a great opportunity to meet a lot of angry pensioners who are affected by Sections 187-191 (then still: Section 70) of the Social Security Act. It was the decisive moment to start this website.
Some were people who had always struggled to make ends meet and were already hit hard by missing out on a monthly payment of as little as NZ$100. Others who would have been entitled to the married rate of two NZ Supers did not get a cent from the NZ government. The most depressed people, of course, were those who had lived and worked all their lives in New Zealand, had contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes to the economy and to society, and were left empty-handed because they were married to the wrong partner.
It then took another 10 years until the shameful policy of the Spousal Provision was scrapped, and we are proud to say that we contributed to the end of this blatant injustice.
At the time Ruth Humphrey was the face of those most abused by the NZ government. She was married to Bill, an American. She had been fighting her case for nearly a decade, but still got only a part of NZ Super because she was still married to the wrong man. Ruth was the living proof that not only immigrants were discriminated against by the Government - and often by the media as well - that labels them as parasites who try to milk the NZ Superannuation system.
There were people like the opera singer Barry Mora who had an overseas pension from working in Germany for twelve years. Unbelievably he was a triple loser. First the German Superannuation Insurance
(Deutsche Rentenversicherung) deducted 30% of his German pension because he was no German national and not from another EU country either, and because Germany has no Social Security Agreement with New Zealand. Due to the rules in New Zealand, Germany does not intend to sign one. (Germany stopped the 30% deduction on 1 October 2013.)
Second, Barry's German pension was deducted from his NZ Super. And finally, IRD (Inland Revenue, New Zealand's tax authority) taxed the remaining German pension because some ignoramus did not know or willingly ignored the Double Taxation Agreement with Germany. This clearly states that only the state that pays the pension can tax it. The Information had even been published in IRD's annual reports some years ago.
As Barry could clearly see that he had a good chance of success, he took up the fight against this unlawful taxation, and sure enough, even New Zealand government agencies have to acknowledge the existence of this agreement. Barry requested a reassessment of his tax returns and received the full refund for four years of overpaid taxes. Others, encouraged by this outcome, have followed suit. Barry died in October 2021 after a long illness without seeing the Direct Deduction Policy changed.
The first Kiwi males married to the wrong women
In the years after the pension forum in Auckland we met the first examples of Kiwi males who had lived and worked their entire lives in New Zealand, and did or would not have received a cent of NZ Super in retirement, had the Spousal Provision policy not been stopped on 9 November 2020, because they were married to an immigrant with a sizeable contributory overseas pension.
Two professionals who had worked and paid taxes in New Zealand for a total of 70 years between the two did not get a cent from the Government - which continued and continues saying that nobody must be better off than a New Zealander who has not made "a fair and equitable contribution via their working life to the New Zealand tax base and to New Zealand society" (ex Prime Minister John Key in a letter to the editor of this website and many other politicians parroting MSD bureaucrats).
We have always wondered how much a Kiwi who has lived on a benefit most of his life has contributed to the New Zealand tax base, be it due to bad luck, destiny, or as a chosen way of life. And how much a criminal has contributed to New Zealand society, other than imposing huge costs on the Government and society? They are all eligible for NZ Super, and can get accommodation supplements on top of it if they do not own a home - which is the norm in such cases.
Big effect on health, nerves, and relationships
But only immigrants and citizens married to immigrants or returning Kiwis are treated like a kind of criminals. Or what did John Key mean when he wrote: "We would not support changes that opened up NZ Super to potential exploitation by those who seek to access New Zealand's superannuation provisions without...", followed by the usual gobbledygook and the story about fair contributions, and that nobody must be better off than the hard working Kiwis.
Read the stories of people affected by this injustice. Some have fought for decades. Some lost their sleep, some fell ill over it, others became depressed. In every case, the fight with WINZ and MSD has put huge stress on these people and their relationships. Some immigrants think the moment they decided to follow their heart and move to New Zealand was the worst decision of their lives although they love the country and their Kiwi partners. They feel like second-class residents and citizens, and the ignorance of the New Zealand media makes things even worse.
But it is a slap in the face when they realise that there are nationals of more than a dozen countries who receive preferential treatment. Some nationalities even get full NZ Super if they have not lived or worked in New Zealand a single day before turning 65. (And we do not even talk of Kiwis who lose their entitlement to NZ Super as soon as they move to Australia.)
This only shows the inequity of the whole system. On the one hand it adds to the anger. But on the other hand it is the trigger to take up the fight against Sections 187-191 of the Social Security Act 2018 and the perception that old people with overseas pensions are trying to milk the NZ Super scheme. The opposite is true.
*****
"I'm a fan of immigration because migrants tend to work a damned sight harder than us natives. They are a disproportionately small share of the welfare watch and improve New Zealand every time they step off the plane."
(Michael Laws, former Mayor of Wanganui and radio talkback host, in his column in the Sunday Star Times on 28 March 2010)
Victims Stories (18):
(Last update: 15.11.2021)
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