Social Assistance (Residency Qualification) Legislation Bill

Bills are proposals to make a new law or to change an existing one. Only Parliament can pass a bill. Each bill goes through several stages, giving MPs and the public the chance to have their say.

The purpose of this omnibus bill is to alter the residential qualifications for New Zealand superannuation and the veteran's pension to allow the requirement that a person also have 5 years' residence and presence in New Zealand over the age of 50 years to be met instead with residence and presence in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau, or any combination of those countries and that territory.