New Zealand Statement to the Second World Assembly on Ageing

E nga mana, e nga reo, o nga hau e wha 
Nga mihi nui ki a koutou no Aotearoa.

Esteemed people of many languages from the four corners of the earth, Greetings to you all from New Zealand.
 

New Zealand Aotearoa is a Pacific nation comprising just over 3.7 million people, of whom 16% are aged 60 and over. Our relatively small population, and the scale and simplicity of our government structures, means that as a social democratic nation we have often been at the forefront of innovation in terms of social policy.
 

As with many nations represented here at this Second World Assembly on Ageing, the older population in New Zealand will change substantially over the next few decades. By 2050, the proportion of older people in our population will have doubled to 32%; a change made more significant by the increase in ethnic and social diversity of the older population.
 

In the future, New Zealand's older population will have higher proportions of Maori, our indigenous people, as well as Pacific peoples and Asian people, who will all have different needs and expectations. There will be lower proportions of women who have had children and the current gender imbalance at older ages is likely to lessen. Increasingly, older people will be better educated and have more work options at age 65 than previous generations of older people. Older women will be more likely to have had a long employment history, while older men will have experienced greater diversity in their working lives.
 

The growth in the older population has significant policy implications for all nations throughout the world and we congratulate the United Nations for the timely development of an International Plan on Ageing. In developed nations in particular, much of the debate on the ageing population centres around expected increases in health and retirement income expenditure. However, people are not just living longer, they are also living healthier and can contribute many more years to society.
 

The New Zealand Government recognises that there are many opportunities to be realised as future generations of older people are expected to be healthier, more skilled and educated, and remain more active in the workforce than their predecessors. It will become increasingly important to monitor the changing characteristics of this population so that policies for older people can be tailored to enable positive ageing.
 

The concept of "Positive Ageing" embraces a number of factors including health, financial security, independence, self-fulfilment, community attitudes, personal safety and security, and the physical environment. The underpinning premise is that the years of "older age" should be both viewed and experienced positively. The focus is therefore not only on the experience of older individuals, but also on younger generations' attitudes, expectations, and actions regarding ageing and older people. Promoting positive attitudes to ageing is the first step to achieving this goal.
 

The ability to age positively is assisted by good investment in education throughout life, to provide individuals with a repertoire of skills and an ability to set and achieve goals. It is also dependent on an environment that provides opportunities for older people to remain involved in society. Positive ageing policies aim to improve each individual's life experiences and create an environment that offers opportunities for continuing participation.
 

Positive attitudes to ageing and expectations of continuing productivity challenge the notion that older age is a time of retirement and withdrawal from society. In reality, lifetime experiences contribute to well-being in older age, and older age is a time for ongoing participation in society.
 

Positive ageing begins at birth, and positive ageing policies are those designed to support people, as they grow older, in leading productive lives in the economy and society. New Zealand supports the emphasis in the International Plan on Ageing of an inclusive society for all ages, where older people are able to fully participate in society on the same basis as all other age groups. Continued participation in older age has benefits for the individual concerned, the community and the country as a whole.
 

It is important that government policies across the range of issues, including employment, health, housing and income support, allow and encourage older people, and future generations of older people, to experience ageing as a positive and productive phenomenon. My Government has responded by developing a Positive Ageing Strategy to achieve this objective.
 

In April last year, building on our achievements over the International Year of Older Persons, our Minister for Senior Citizens launched the New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy. The strategy sets out my Government's commitment to positive ageing and reaffirms the value of older people in society. The development of the strategy included a review of existing policies and services to ensure consistency with the Positive Ageing Principles. In addition, extensive public consultation was undertaken to identify ten priority goals, with recommended actions to achieve these goals.
 

All government departments are required to identify work items each year that contribute to the achievement of the priority goals, and to address other emerging issues as they are identified. These work items form annual Positive Ageing Action Plans that are monitored and reported to Government each year. The overall impact of the initiatives will be reviewed every three years, with the publication of regular status reports that provide a comprehensive description of the situation of older people in New Zealand.
 

The New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy is therefore a living document that reinforces Government's commitment to promote the value and participation of older people in their communities. Governments cannot achieve this objective on their own. All sectors of society need to be involved, so it is pleasing that non-government sector is playing a significant role in this World Assembly.
 

The expected growth in the proportion of older people during the coming decades will provide New Zealand with a valuable resource of skills, knowledge and experience to benefit our society. Societies that recognise the value of older people and harness this resource will reap the rewards.

In conclusion, let me quote to you a Maori proverb:

            Haere e wai, i to waewae o nga kaumatua Kia ora ai koe

            Wisdom and good fortune comes to those who sit at the feet of our elders.
 

            Thank you.

            Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
            (Farewell greeting to you all)