Labour doesn’t support Te Pāti Māori policy for Māori to get NZ Super at earlier age

Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Māori and social development spokesperson Willie Jackson are unsupportive of ethnicity-based Super eligibility. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour has clarified it does not support Te Pāti Māori’s policy for Māori to receive New Zealand Superannuation seven to 10 years before everyone else.

Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds declined the opportunity to shoot down the idea when first asked to share her view, saying: “Labour will not be making announcements on superannuation policy at the stage of the electoral cycle.”

But after the Herald published a story on Wednesday, Edmonds clarified: “Labour has a long-standing position of keeping the universal age of eligibility for NZ Super at 65.

“We have no plans to change that and would not support targeting eligibility on the basis of ethnicity.”

Labour’s most senior Māori member of Parliament, Willie Jackson, discussed the issue of Māori receiving Super before , Pākehā, to reflect their lower life expectancy, during an interview with the Herald last month.

He noted Labour hadn’t decided on its policy yet, but said: “That won’t happen.

“It would cause resentment - not just with the right but with the left also.

“You’d get so much resentment from elder Pākehā people. As much as we do need target programmes, that sort of programme is dangerous and too divisive. We want to take everyone with us.”

Te Pāti Māori explained its position in a statement: “Te Pāti Māori is clear – our people should be able to access superannuation seven to 10 years earlier than the rest of the population.

“Māori life expectancy is significantly lower, and many of our people work in physically demanding jobs that take a toll well before retirement age.

“It is unacceptable that Māori contribute to the system their whole lives but die before they can benefit from it in the same way as others. It isn’t just about the fact that we die sooner; it’s about the fact that we need support sooner.”

Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen estimated lowering the age of eligibility by eight years, to 57, for Māori would have cost nearly $4 billion in 2024.

By way of context, the Government spent nearly $22b on Super in 2024 – five times the amount it spent on Jobseeker Support and the Emergency Benefit, and eight times what it spent on police.

The cost of Super is expected to rise to nearly $29b by 2029.

The Green Party said it supported “identifying ways to allow flexibility in the age a person may receive New Zealand Superannuation, for example to allow early entry for people with a permanent health condition or disability, lower life expectancy such as Māori, or as part of a just transition [away from fossil fuels]”.

While the gap between Māori and Pākehā life expectancy has been closing in recent decades, it is still notable, according to 2019 Statistics New Zealand data.

Asian women in New Zealand have the highest life expectancy at 88 years, followed by Asian men at 85, European/other women at 85, European/other men at 81, Pacific women at 79, Māori women at 77, Pacific men at 75 and Māori men at 73.

When forming the Government in 2023, National promised NZ First it would keep the age of eligibility for Super at 65. However, both it and Act would like to lift the age to 67 over time.

Before the 2023 election, the Green Party supported keeping the age at 65.

Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in Government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.