National is proposing Kiwis who move overseas and avoid repaying student loans should face tougher penalties – while easing repayments for the graduates who stay.<\/p>\n
If re-elected, the party’s policy would cut the compulsory student loan repayment rate from 12 cents to 10 cents in every dollar earned above $24,128, from April 1, 2027, finance spokesperson Nicola Willis announced this morning alongside leader Christopher Luxon.<\/p>\n
The repayment cut is forecast to cost $438 million over five years, while National expects the tougher overseas enforcement to recover about $15 million a year.<\/p>\n
National estimates the repayment cut will cost $438 million over five years, most of it a one-off $283 million write-down of the existing loan book in 2026\/27. The party expects the tougher overseas measures to bring in about $15 million a year in net recoveries.<\/p>\n
Willis said that, if National were re-elected, the proposed change would let graduates keep more of what they earn early in their careers.<\/p>\n
“That is how we keep talent here, as part of our wider plan to fix the basics and build the future,” she said, making the announcement from Auckland’s Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n
“Compulsory student loan repayments are paid at 12 cents on every dollar earned above $24,128. It is often one of the biggest weekly expenses for a young graduate,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Reducing this to 10 cents means an accountant starting out in their career and earning $75,000 per year would keep an extra $39 a fortnight, or around $1000 a year. <\/p>\n
“A junior doctor with a student loan earning $100,000 a year would keep an extra $58 a fortnight, or $1500 a year. <\/p>\n
“It means borrowers can repay their interest-free loans over a longer period and keep more of their pay in their back pocket, which can make a big difference when they\u2019re at the start of their careers and earning at the lower end of their profession.<\/p>\n
“At the same time, it\u2019s not fair for graduates to take their skills offshore after receiving a heavily subsidised tertiary education, and not try to repay their loan.”<\/p>\n
National would add 1% to the annual interest charged on all overseas balances, with additional tiered penalties for sustained default, on top of existing late payment interest.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, overseas-based borrowers who withdraw or transfer their KiwiSaver under the “permanent migration” test would have those funds used to clear any outstanding student loan before the money is released.<\/p>\n
The party would also look to lower the threshold for a border arrest warrant, so a warrant could be sought for serious, sustained default without needing to prove a borrower knowingly refused to pay. <\/p>\n
“National\u2019s Back Pocket Boost for Graduates will reward young graduates who choose to stay in New Zealand, while pursuing those who leave and default,” Willis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National is proposing Kiwis who move overseas and avoid repaying student loans should face tougher penalties – while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2917,84,11507,111,43,139,69,135],"class_list":["post-584442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-cost-of-living","tag-education","tag-national-party","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}