Savings push for foster children
National MP Hamish Walker is championing a law change to let foster parents open KiwiSaver accounts for foster children in their care.
He introduced the KiwiSaver (Foster Parents Opting in for Children in their Care) private member’s bill in Parliament late on Wednesday evening.
Walker made the move at the behest of Sam Stubbs, the founder of the non-profit KiwiSaver scheme Simplicity, who was in Parliament to watch the introduction of the bill.
And, should the bill turn into law, Simplicity will set up a KiwiSaver account for every foster child who wants one, waiving all administration, membership, trustee and custodial fees for at least the first five years.
There were about 6000 foster children in New Zealand, and the only person who could sign them up to KiwiSaver was Grainne Moss, the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki —Ministry for Children.
‘‘The issue this bill addresses is simple. It seeks to give foster parents the same rights as any other parents to open a KiwiSaver account for their child,’’ Walker said.
‘‘A foster child is in a unique position. Often their legal guardian or parent is absent; they may be unable to be contacted; they might be in prison; they might be deceased; for whatever reason, their care is now the business of the state.’’
The head of Oranga Tamariki was too busy to make KiwiSaver a priority, he said.
‘‘If you want to leave a legacy for a child that you know will only ever be able to be accessed by that child, then that is a KiwiSaver account,’’ Walker said.
‘‘As the child grows, he or she may receive other financial bonuses which can be put aside for their future. It’s a good thing to do this for a child – to provide that child, who may have had many years of instability and insecurity, with a valuable asset that will always be there for them in the future.’’
Revenue Minister Stuart Nash said Labour would support the bill through to the select committee stage. But he said that while the bill was well meaning there were other things that were more pressing for lifting the wellbeing of children.
‘‘In my nine years of being a member of Parliament no foster parent has ever said to me, ‘One of the things I need to do as a foster parent is sign my child up to KiwiSaver.’ ’’
Stubbs said: ‘‘The problem was brought to our attention last year by Megan Barclay, a foster mum, who had been frustrated at trying for years to open a KiwiSaver account for foster children in her care . . . We’ve supported Hamish Walker in his attempt to get a private member’s bill into the house to fix it.’’