Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

22 October 2013  

Government Backs $22 Billion Kiwisaver Ripoff

Rt Hon Winston Peters has accused the Government of failing KiwiSaver contributors by allowing the finance industry to take more than $22 billion from them over the next thirty years.

He questioned the Prime Minister in Parliament today about the wisdom of leaving pensions funds entirely in private hands bearing in mind that John Key’s former US employer Merrill Lynch lost NZ$53.5 billion of pension funds in 2001.

Mr Peters says it’s ironic that Mr Key has the cheek to criticise the new New Zealand First KiwiFund while backing private companies who make huge profits without any guarantee of contributors’ funds.

“This is the way this Government works and it shows the real agenda of the National Party.

“They back any scheme that pours money into private companies – especially foreign owned ones – and when Kiwis need support they look the other way.”

New Zealand First warned there would be ‘howls of outrage’ from private funds managers and a concerted misinformation campaign over the new KiwiFund policy, and “true to form” that has been the case.

“The Financial Services Council was one of the first out of the gate and the National Party and some commentators have been wrongly claiming we plan to ‘nationalise’ KiwiSaver.

“This couldn’t be further from the truth. All we are offering is an alternative, albeit a far superior and safer one.

“KiwiFund will offer minimal fees because its purpose is to maximise returns to savers, not to make profits for fund managers.

“KiwiFund will also guarantee that savers, at a minimum, will get back their capital plus inflation.

“With current providers, savers carry all the risk. They may save for years but lose the bulk of their savings if a provider fails,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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