‘Better Off’ Superannuitants Will Be Shocked
new-zealand-first-party
Tue Nov 10 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
‘Better Off’ Superannuitants Will Be Shocked
Tuesday, 10 November 2015, 5:31 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party
Denis O’Rourke MP
Spokesperson on Justice,
Constitutional Review
10 NOVEMBER 2015
‘Better Off’ Superannuitants Will Be Shocked by Minister’s Belief
Finance Minister Bill English claims NZ Superannuitants are better off under National, despite revelations NZ Super falls well below supporting a no-frills lifestyle.
“His argument in Parliament today was less than convincing given a Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre survey found that a superannuitant spends $489 a week just to survive,” says Spokesperson on NZ Super Denis O’Rourke. “That’s over $115 per week more than they receive from NZ Super.
“Mr English is living on another planet. He is obviously unaware of the increase in elder poverty and the battle for many to afford rental accommodation as housing costs soar, particularly in the main centres.
“The Minister is in a government that refuses to address the cost of NZ Super, the rapidly growing population and the fact that the population is ageing,” says Mr O’Rourke.
He was asked whether he accepts that the percentage of the average wage on which superannuation is based needs to be substantially increased.
He said it should not be, pretending: “We have now had a couple of decades of consensus in Parliament about that particular formula, which has been studied in great detail, and we believe it is about a fair balance of meeting the needs of older people who cannot earn an income, on the one hand, and the ability of the wider community to pay for that in the face of an ageing population”.
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New Zealand First rejects any such consensus, and instead we want the Minister to take the issue seriously rather than fob it off in this way.
“Mr English’s failure to understand the reality of living on NZ Super fits with his statement recently that the Cullen fund, a nest egg built up to protect NZ Super, did not work, yet it has been rated the top sovereign investment fund performer in the world.
“Had National kept up the taxpayers’ contributions, it would be now worth $18.2 billion more than it is now at $29.6 billion.”
ENDS
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