7. Hon HEATHER ROY (ACT) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he agree with former Treasury Secretary John Whitehead that a retirement age of 65 is “pretty hard to justify” and that an increase is “inevitable”; if not, why not?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
No. The Government’s policy is clear: the continuation of universal national superannuation for all New Zealanders from age 65. The cost of this policy does rise, but it is fully factored into all projections made by this Government.
Has he seen Gabriel Makhlouf’s speech, made when he was the deputy chief executive of Treasury, where he stated that New Zealand needs to either increase GST to 19 percent or raise average income tax by $30 per week to fund the existing retirement age, and, in light of his Government’s refusal to change the age, which option does he favour?
I cannot recall whether I have seen that speech, but it would be entirely consistent with Treasury’s view. As Mr Makhlouf will be finding in his new job as the Secretary to the Treasury, part of the professional task is to be gloomy and forecast that things are going to be pretty rough in the future. I am sure he will stick to that task.
Does he think that John Whitehead; the Retirement Commissioner, Diana Crossan; Gareth Morgan; Bernard Hickey; and others are all wrong in calling for the raising of the retirement age, as Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard is doing in Australia; if so, what information does he have that they do not have?
The information we have is a firm commitment made by this Government not to execute that policy. If those advisers all want to change the policy, then they should run for office. [ Interruption]
Mr SPEAKERDoes he think it more caring to give retirees time to plan for their future by raising the age over a long transition period, or has he too adopted the John Key approach of leaving the problem of funding superannuation for a future Government that he is not part of to deal with at short notice?
No, the Government is not leaving the problem. What we are doing is bringing to the Government much-needed fiscal discipline in light of changed circumstances and the recklessness of the last Labour Government, because for every dollar that we can put into effective rather than ineffective services, we are improving the likelihood that retirees in the future will have a decent standard of living.