Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader

9 October 2013

Alarmist Campaign to Raise Pension Age

New Zealand First has again warned against the concerted campaign to soften up the public to fundamental changes to the New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) scheme.

This follows the draft recommendations from the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement calling for a debate on raising the age of eligibility, along with changing the formula to which NZS payments are decided.

Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says that it is clear the campaign has a number of fronts and protagonists but the overall intent is obvious.

“It is to smash and destroy the wide consensus that has developed among New Zealanders on the broad parameters for superannuation.

“Raising the pension age is a quick fix to a ‘crisis’ created by those promoting the private pensions industry. At only 4.3 per cent of GDP, NZS is far more affordable than many OECD countries, where it can be up to 8 per cent of GDP.

“The issue is not the age of eligibility. The National Government stopped paying into the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in 2009, a seriously short-sighted move, with the Finance Minister not expecting payments to resume again until 2020/21.

“Full superannuation is also paid to more than 42,000 migrants who have been here for at least 10 years – even if they have made little or no contribution to the economy.

“In our view the best way to meet future pension liabilities is to get serious growth back into our economy and to take a closer look at who we actually allow to collect New Zealand Superannuation”, says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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