Election 17 – National Super

National Super – National have kicked the can down the road for years on superannuation and their proposal is to kick it for a further 20 years until virtually all current ministers have been able to retire at 65. This is irresponsible and will saddle our children and grandchildren with another $40 billion (need to check $) of tax burden. ACT will slowly raise the retirement age starting in 2020 so that it is 67 by 2032.
Like low wage and beneficiary families, many of those relying on national superannuation at 66% of the average wage are struggling due to the housing affordability problem – particularly in Auckland and Tauranga. The solution is set out above under housing.

National Super – from Nathaniel Blomfield, Labour Candidate for Coromandel
I support Labour’s policy that opposes any changes to the superannuation age, due to the strain it could place on some elderly people.r
I think that 66% of the average is not sufficient for many people today. I’d note that Labour’s Industrial Relations policy will deliver higher average wages and as a consequence this will raise the level of national Superannuation. Whether we can move to a higher rate in the future is something for us to explore in government.
A couple of other points I’d like to highlight are:
• Labour will resume contributions to the New Zealand Super Fund with $2.4 billion extra in contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which Labour would restart three years earlier than the current National Government.
• Labour will pay beneficiaries and super annuitants a winter energy payment to help them keep their homes warm and dry.

Jan Tineti – Tauranga Candidate for Labour Party

NATIONAL SUPER –Labour believes eligibility for New Zealand Superannuation should remain at 65. A Labour-led Government would restore payments to the NZ Superannuation Fund to secure its future. There needs to be review of payments to ascertain the elderly are being well supported.

National Super – The National Party believes that we have a responsibility to face the bigger, longer-term issues facing New Zealand. That’s why the Government intends to progressively increase the age of eligibility for New Zealand super to 67, starting in 20 years’ time. This is about striking the right balance between making it fair to both present and future generations.
We also remain committed to NZ Super being indexed at 66% of the average weekly wage. It is important to keep in mind that wages are growing – since 2008 NZ Super is up by 36%. This is more than double the rate of inflation over the same time. Changes made in Budget 2017 also plan to increase the pension a further $13 per week in addition to the usual adjustment that happens on April 1st every year. Around 15,000 super annuitants nationwide will also benefit by an average of $29 per week with changes to the Accommodation Supplement.

NATIONAL SUPER
I am so pleased to represent a party that says, ‘We value you’ and ‘You are worthy of care’. ‘We can afford you’ and ‘You can retire at 65’.
The Rt Hon Winston Peters MP says “New Zealand First’s objective is to preserve the entitlement of New Zealanders to retire and receive New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) as it now is with eligibility at 65 years and as a universal non-contributory publicly funded pension scheme with no means-testing.”
We must increase our productivity and reduce immigration. NZ First intends to double GDP over the next 30 years and says at 4.8% of GDP superannuation is affordable. When the economy picks up we will increase super.
We can’t do this with mass immigration and giving full super to migrant parents after 10 years. There is currently an unfairness to NZ Citizens and taxpayers who have lived and worked in NZ their entire lives. The parent reunification program is flawed as is the Social Security Act 1964, sect 70 for overseas pensions.

BACK TO QUESTIONS

Plus the policy from the NZ First Website

NZ FIRST:

New Zealand First will:
* Keep the age of eligibility for Superannuation at 65, non-contributory entitlement with no means-testing.
* Ensure that SuperGold Card holders receive three free doctor’s visits a year.
* Promote a ten per cent discount on power bills for SuperGold Card holders during the winter months.
* Plan for the future of the eldercare sector and ensure that New Zealand is prepared to care for the older generation.
* Enforce national standards for rest homes and home care.
* Ensure that adequate funding and direction is put into Alzheimer’s, dementia, and osteoporosis research.
* Commit to extending the benefits of the SuperGold card.
* Revise the mechanism for calculating New Zealand Superannuation to ensure that the minimum base level cannot fall below 66 per cent of the net average wage to redress any financial loss incurred through the application of the current mechanism.
* Change the rebate for non-qualified spouse in receipt of New Zealand Superannuation and the 55 plus benefit to bring it into line with the widows and domestic purposes benefit.
* Raise the rebate threshold for a non-qualified spouse from $80 per week to $100 and index it to the CPI.
* Cement in place the age of entitlement to New Zealand Superannuation at 65 years.
* Provide that (on a pro rata basis) receipts of superannuation at a death that is notified will form part of the deceased estate with no requirement for repayment.
* Ensure that any new scheme would not affect any person who at the time of introduction was aged 55 years or older and thus maintain certainty for that group currently closest to retirement.
* Provide for regular inflation adjustment of benefits (and abatement levels).
* Broaden the benefits available to seniors included in the SuperGold Card to include energy and medical benefits.
* Support the development of accommodation initiatives for pensioners.
* Explore options to reduce the rates encumbrance on seniors.
* Further develop a strategy for meeting the health needs of an ageing population.
* Assure equity of access to health and disability services across generations by removing income and asset testing for older people needing long stay geriatric hospital care services and asset testing for long stay geriatric private hospital care.
* Implement national standards for geriatric home care that are enforced, and require an adequate inspection of rest homes to ensure standards are met.
* Review specific ‘disability’ provisions and rest-home care.
* Review the funding of rest home care contracts, particularly in relation to costs imposed by legislative changes which impact on the cost of care.
* Ensure that staff ratios in aged residential care facilities are set at appropriate levels for safety and care, while ensuring staff receive appropriate ongoing training and professional development.
* Update the Grant Thornton 2010 report into aged care services and ensure all future planning with the eldercare industry is done in consultation with all stakeholders.
* Put in place a long term planning strategy for the eldercare sector thereby ensuring that the huge cost of the aging population bubble will be adequately planned for.
* Smooth the funding pathway between the Ministry of Health and eldercare providers to ensure that the cumbersome negotiations at the DHB level are less intrusive.
* Review lottery funding criteria for community transport for seniors groups.
* Develop close working relations with seniors’ advocacy groups.
* Scope the free provision of hearing aids and spectacles to qualifying citizens.
* Complete the nationwide network of Elder Abuse and Neglect Co-ordination Services.
* Ensure that adequate funding and direction is put into Alzheimer’s, dementia, and osteoporosis research.
* Ensure that a pilot study is undertaken to provide a formula for the timely provision of operations for cataracts and hip replacements.
* Guarantee the maintenance of core hospital services and timely access to acute emergency services.
* Ensure that the subsidy paid to elderly in care is automatically adjusted for CPI inflation each year, like New Zealand Superannuation, and ensure DHBs fully pass this funding on.
* Incrementally work towards pay parity between eldercare nurses and DBH employed nurses.
* Develop a specific Industry Training Organisation for the eldercare sector.
* Ensure that planning for the eldercare sector incorporates the capacity for family home carers.
* Adequately resource elective surgery and establish guaranteed maximum waiting times for a range of surgical and specialist treatment.
* Ensure that senior citizens receive greater recognition for the thousands of hours of voluntary service they perform in the community and provide opportunities for paid contributions.
* Provide a range of measures in support of the safety and security of all New Zealanders by properly resourcing the police, providing stiffer sentencing, and greater community involvement.