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Labour intends to abolish the mandatory requirement for age-based driving tests for people aged 80 years and over.
Neither the Labour Government nor older people have been happy with the rules surrounding driver licences and older people. The current regime is costly on older people, it is stressful, and it is unfair.
The preferred approach includes:
- No mandatory age-based on-road test;
- Retain the current GPs "medical fitness to drive" certificate at age 75, 80 and two yearly thereafter;
- The possibility of an optional on-road test in certain circumstances;
- Medical practitioners to make greater use of a range of conditional/restricted licence options; and
- Increased provision of educational materials.
The Labour Government will develop a new older driver licensing regime based on this framework - with no mandatory age-based on-road test for older drivers.
Labour is also proposing several other changes to make the current older driver licensing system fairer and more user-friendly, which we hope to have in place early in 2006.
We will create a new "conditional" older driver licence and older drivers will have the choice of seeking either a full licence, or a conditional licence.
This will cater for those older drivers who only want a local licence for driving to and from the shops, the doctor and around their local area. Where an older person needs to travel out of their local area on a regular basis, they would seek a full licence.
Legislation passed last week introduces three significant amendments to the social security system. One of the changes is extending the eligibility for the Accommodation Supplement to the small number of residents of retirement villages who have licence to occupy tenure and who meet the other qualifying criteria for the Accommodation Supplement, including an income and cash assets test.
Another change is making sure that benefit applicants who work for part of the year (for example, seasonal workers) are not financially disadvantaged by enabling them to choose a 52-week or 26-week income assessment period for the calculation of their stand-down period.
There will be an increase in the existing reduction of benefit for sole parents who do not name the other parent, or apply for Child Support, or attend a hearing and give evidence at proceedings brought under the Child Support Act. From 1 July 2005, when three months have passed since the initial reduction of $22 per week was imposed, there will be a further reduction of $6 per week per beneficiary. However, from 1 July 2005, there will be two additional exemptions:
- No reduction in benefit will apply where sole parent beneficiaries or their children would be at risk of violence should the sole parent comply with their obligations.
- No penalty will apply when there are compelling circumstances for the sole parent's failure to comply with their obligations and no child support is likely to be collected from the other parent in the foreseeable future.
The Act also contains a number of other amendments to clarify existing legislation or practice.
Funding for three key areas of special education will be increased by $30.7million over the next four years.
An increase of $16.9 million goes to Supplementary Learning Support to increase the number of students eligible for this funding from 1000 to 1500. These are students with high levels of need but who do not qualify for ORRS funding. They will now be provided with additional specialist support and specialist teacher time.
The second initiative is a $9.8million increase in funding for teacher aides. This will help ensure that schools can meet the special needs of students receiving support through ORRS or Ministry of Education Special Education behaviour services, by meeting a greater proportion of the actual cost of employing teacher aides. The third is $4million to develop effective assessment for students with special education needs. This will provide teachers with more support in assessing the learning needs of children and young people with special education requirements.
Hunters will be pleased Conservation Minister Chris Carter has cleared the way for the use of deer repellent on 1080 bait used to control possums but only in New Zealand's eight Recreational Hunting Areas, including our own Haurangi Ranges.
In making this decision, Chris sought to strike a balance between two clearly conflicting points of view.
Recreational hunters want widespread use of deer repellent to deter deer from eating 1080 bait and dying in 1080 drops designed to kill possums.
In contrast, conservation groups want to maximise the benefits of 1080 to the recovery of native species and a reduction in deer numbers is one of those benefits. Deer destroy many native plants and trees.
Recreation Hunting Areas are recognised in law as places special to hunters. There are eight in New Zealand, including two sites where use of aerial 1080 has been most controversial with hunters, namely the Blue Mountains and the Aorangi (or Haurangi) Range.
If use of deer repellent in these key hunting spots makes some hunting groups more comfortable with 1080 that is of considerable benefit.
The eight Recreational Hunting Areas are Pureora, Kaimanawa, Aorangi, Lake Sumner, Oxford, Whakatipu, Blue Mountain and Kaweka.
Finally congratulations to Tararua rugby player Robert Foreman, who is to receive a Prime Minister's Athlete scholarship.
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