A big week for village residents…

A great deal has happened in the past week regarding progressing discussions for a ‘fulsome review’ of the legislative framework that governs retirement villages.

The busy week started on Tuesday with our President having a 30 minute face to face meeting with 10 National MP’s who form the Caucus Social Housing Committee of the National Party – and chaired by Louise Upston who happens to be Peter’s local MP.

Peter said afterwards “Good hearing, good questions especially from Nicola Willis and Ian McKelvie, National Party speaker on matters pertaining to Seniors. They clearly want to help and would like to be involved in whichever standing committee of the House the Clerk sends the petitions that will be presented.”

Less than 24 hours later, village residents converged on Parliament steps…

RVRANZ Petition Presentation

On Wednesday 17th November, over 100 village residents joined together on parliament steps to meet with MP’s and present 12,521 signatures asking for an urgent review of the legislation and a mandated return of funds within 28 days of exit. Media were present along with a representative from the RVA and a couple of protesters wanting to get in on the media coverage. Glynis (Wellington Regional Chair) was in excellent form – and after she had moved the anti-vaxxer on – she was welcomed by the RVRANZ National Manager and gave an impassioned speech to the MP’s and fellow residents.

We were there to deliver two messages from the petition – and we got them across. In attendance were: Hon Simon Bridges, MP for Whangaparoa – Mark Mitchell, MP for Waitaki – Jacqui Dean, MP for Rangitikei – Ian McKelvie and MP for Botany – Christopher Luxon.

Our special thanks to all of those that attended the petition presentation. It was great to have you there and make a stand.

[Note: Due to a camera failure, we did not manage to video Simon Bridges reply to the petition – but we gratefully acknowledge his support and the support of the MP’s to see our concerns properly raised in the House]

Hon. Poto Williams readily acknowledged the expertise of the RVRANZ team and was impressed with the depth of understanding – both within the Australian context and the extensive work that had been submitted in our submissions and Best Practise Guidelines. As well as reiterating her commitment to a review, the Minister directed her Officials to collaborate with the RVRANZ as soon as possible, to ensure progress is made.

It is clear the Government now wants to be a part of the solution here and we have no intention of taking our foot of the gas! We look forward to keeping you abreast of that progress.

Peter, was featured on Radio New Zealand’s Midday Report – you can listen to the interview here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/middayreport/audio/2018820901/retirees-want-reform-of-aged-care-sector

Our press statement is covered by Scoop news here: Retirees Tell Government: We’ve Had A Gutsful | Scoop News

In case you missed it, Peter’s NewsTalkZB interview here: Retirement Village Residents Assn: Review into village contracts taking too long (newstalkzb.co.nz)

1. TELL YOUR STORY
We hope to see a full summer schedule of residents stories to keep the public mind focused on the urgency of this task and to ensure that a review is promptly actioned. Please send your village experiences in.
Email:   woodycapricorn@gmail.com

2. INVITE YOUR LOCAL MP
If you would like to host an MP in your village for a cuppa to go over your concerns, or invite an MP to your next residents meeting then we can either help arrange this or feel free to contact them directly.
Email:   secretary@rvranz.org.nz

Making a Formal Complaint – We’ve created a simple online form that helps you submit a complaint and also send a copy to associated agencies. Simply click on https://www.rvranz.org.nz/formal-complaint/Best Practice – If you are interested in what we want to see changed in the legislative framework then you can download the RVRANZ’s Framework for Fairness

These and other resources are all available on https://www.rvranz.org.nz/

And make sure to check out our FACEBOOK PAGE!

PS. We are still hoping to have a printed newsletter out to all members in December.