Meanwhile, the annual NZ Super bill for older migrants has hit a billion dollars five years after Parliament tightened eligibility.
Newstalk ZB political reporter Ethan Griffiths told The Front Page that Finance Minister Nicola Willis isn’t worried about older migrants’ super bill, pointing to recent changes.
“There were recent changes to superannuation which said that if you’ve been here for 10 years you could be eligible for New Zealand Super. That is slowly being increased to 20 years … So, for example, people who are born in 1959 who are already superannuitants will remain eligible if they’ve spent 10 years here.
“But over a number of years, that will increase to 20 years. So if you were born in 1977 or later, you will be eligible after spending 20 years in New Zealand.
“For people that have moved to New Zealand after the age of 50, there’s about 42,000 of them; they are now pocketing New Zealand Super at a cost to the taxpayer of around $1b a year.
“Now, the argument goes that these people haven’t paid tax in New Zealand for a number of years, and therefore shouldn’t be receiving the same entitlements as New Zealanders who have worked and lived in New Zealand for their entire life.
“The other argument here is that Super is seen as a universal entitlement. You are entitled to Super if you are over the age of 65 and a New Zealand resident or citizen. The other argument could be if we were to pull away those entitlements, there would be nothing stopping those exact same people going on the Jobseeker benefit, for example.
“I don’t think most people are expecting an 85-year-old to hold down a job just because they moved to New Zealand at a later age.
“So the question is, if you did remove that entitlement or you cut it back significantly, would it save the taxpayer any money or would these people just simply apply to be on a Jobseeker benefit where they’re getting much the same rate?” he said.
Data released under the Official Information Act shows that, as of December 2025, the Crown paid $20,687,000 a week to 42,852 superannuitants who became residents in New Zealand aged 50 or older.
The sum has more than doubled in the past 10 years: in December 2015, the annual cost totalled $497 million.
If re-elected, National wants to keep the NZ Super age at 65 until 2044, when it will be gradually lifted to 67.
Labour has ruled out any changes to NZ Super settings and Act would gradually raise the age to 67 over eight years.
New Zealand First wants the age of retirement to remain at 65: “No ifs, buts, or maybes”.
“This is a wait-and-see moment,” leader Winston Peters told Griffiths, “You should watch out, we’ve got announcements to make about this.”
“ Will Winston Peters roll over and accept that, yes, this change needs to happen, or will it be a bottom line? How hard will National negotiate to get it over the line? Nicola Willis has talked extensively this year about the cost of Super and how unaffordable it is getting for the country,” Griffiths said.
“That will be one of the fascinating things to watch after the election should National and New Zealand First be negotiating to form another government.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
Policy changesFiscal pressuresParty positions on Super.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.