However, Treasury said that if NZ had been indexed to CPI inflation since 2010, a quarter of those over the age of 65 would be living on less than 50% of median incomes compared to 6% now.<\/p>\n
Rennie wasn\u2019t as keen on means testing NZ Super, noting there was some uncertainty around how this would influence the labour market, and whether there would be decent cost savings to the Crown.<\/p>\n
While political parties are still formulating the policies they will take to the November election, none expressed support for changing the rate at which payments rise every year.<\/p>\n
Governing parties divided<\/p>\n
Act was broadly supportive of cutting spending on NZ Super. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe books show that New Zealand is on a collision course with crippling debt if we don\u2019t face up to reality,\u201d a spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis year Act will be leading the debate on how we face reality and adapt to it in a way that\u2019s fair for all New Zealanders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the 2023 election, Act campaigned on lifting the age of entitlement for NZ Super immediately, in three-month increments, to 67.<\/p>\n
Once the age reached 67, it said NZ Super should be indexed to life expectancy, ensuring that each generation was entitled to the same proportion of their life on the pension as previous generations.<\/p>\n
In 2023, National likewise campaigned on gradually lifting the age to 67 \u2013 but only from 2044.<\/p>\n
It committed to keeping NZ Super payment increases as they were. <\/p>\n
National declined to comment on the party\u2019s current stance on the matter, noting it was yet to unveil the policy it would take to the election.<\/p>\n
The coalition Government has been keen to push Kiwis to do more to prepare for retirement themselves. <\/p>\n
It is increasing the default KiwiSaver contribution rate from 3% each for employees and employers to 3.5% from April this year, and 4% from April 2028. <\/p>\n
It is also halving the Government contribution to eligible KiwiSaver members to a maximum of $261 per year and limiting the eligibility of this payment to those who earn less than $180,000 a year. <\/p>\n
National is campaigning on<\/a> lifting this rate even further, to 6%, by 2032.<\/p>\n If National was re-elected to govern with the support of Act and NZ First (as current polling suggests is likely) and it decided to do more to curtail NZ Super costs, it would struggle to get support from NZ First.<\/p>\n The party is dead set on keeping the indexing and age of eligibility as they are. <\/p>\n \u201cSuperannuitants have worked all of their lives paying taxes to help build our country \u2013 Super should not be viewed as a benefit but as an entitlement,\u201d a NZ First spokesperson said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe issue of affordability of Super should not be lazily viewed in terms of its current or future fiscal cost, rather the need of future growth of the economy to maintain the low [cost of Super as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to other countries].<\/p>\n \u201cAdditionally, the reason we have the Cullen Fund, which New Zealand First supported from opposition, was to smooth out the hump in future Super cost growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Parties on the left anti cost-cutting<\/p>\n Labour supported keeping the age of eligibility at 65 and said it had no plans to adjust how NZ Super was indexed. <\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t support changes that would quietly reduce living standards for older New Zealanders, especially as the cost of living continues to get worse under this Government,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The Green Party was on a similar page. <\/p>\n \u201cWe would oppose indexing superannuation to just CPI,\u201d a Green Party spokesperson said. <\/p>\n \u201cLast term, we called for benefits to be indexed to CPI and wages, just like superannuation, because we want to treat beneficiaries like superannuitants. Treasury wants superannuitants to be treated like beneficiaries.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a prosperous country like ours, nobody should retire into poverty. Instead of making it harder for those on NZ Super who are already struggling, we could easily afford to sustain adequate superannuation into the future if we stopped giving landlords and tobacco companies tax cuts and had a government that taxed extreme wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori didn\u2019t respond to the Herald\u2019s request for comment. <\/p>\n