Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
18 AUGUST 2016

Commissioner Wrong on NZ Super

All New Zealanders should be concerned about what the Retirement Commissioner is saying on NZ Super because she is demonstrably wrong, says New Zealand First.

“She has declared NZ Super ‘unsustainable’, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“The question must be asked who Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell thinks she serves.

“The Public Finance Act 1989 requires that the Treasury prepare a statement on New Zealand’s long-term fiscal position at least every four years.

“In 2013 Treasury issued its Affording Our Future Statement (the third such statement).

“That statement showed that NZ Super would still be under 8% of nominal GDP by the year 2060.

“NZ Super is not lavish and it is taxable.

“By international standards the cost of public pension provision in New Zealand is modest. Most OECD countries have public pension costs that, as a percentage of public expenditure and GDP, are above New Zealand.

“What is odd is why Commissioner Maxwell omitted to mention that New Zealand First is the only party with a common sense and long term approach to ensuring NZ Super remains sustainable.

“When it was introduced to Parliament, National voted down NZ First’s New Superannuation and Retirement Income (Pro Rata Entitlement) Amendment Bill 2015.

“This Bill was designed to address long-term pension affordability and the unfairness of the current system which gives certain elderly arrivals to New Zealand an exceptionally generous NZ Super entitlement.

“Tens of thousands of elderly migrants have gained access to NZ Super when they have contributed nothing towards it.

“On taking office National stopped paying into the NZ Super Fund (the Cullen Fund).

“As a result, NZ has lost out in billions as stock markets have surged in the low interest environment of recent years.

“The Cullen Fund is designed to prepare for and offset the pension costs of the ageing population. But National has taken no interest in the sustainability of NZ Super over the long term.

“NZ Super is sustainable:

• What is not sustainable is almost net 70,000 new immigrants a year;

• What is not sustainable is allowing foreign multinational corporations to indulge in widespread tax avoidance;

• What is not sustainable is the wholesale selling of New Zealand land, housing and businesses into foreign ownership.

“All New Zealanders have an interest in ensuring that NZ Super is maintained as a secure and sustainable public pension scheme,” says Mr Peters.

Diane Maxwell on NZ Super | interest.co.nz

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