Labour tight-lipped as Te Pāti Māori wants Māori to receive NZ Super seven to 10 years before everyone else

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi's Super policy could cost nearly $4 billion a year. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour is staying tight-lipped, as Te Pāti Māori says Māori should receive New Zealand Superannuation seven to 10 years before everyone else.

Meanwhile, the Green Party supports lowering the age of eligibility for Super for some groups in society.

The issue came to the fore when the top brass at the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation appeared before Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee for its annual review earlier this month.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi asked the Guardians for its view on whether Māori should receive Super at a younger age than Pākehā, because Māori have a lower life expectancy.

The entity’s chairman, John Williamson, said it didn’t have a view on the matter.

The Guardians manages the country’s $76 billion sovereign wealth fund. Policy settings related to NZ Super are a matter for the Government.

Te Pāti Māori has for some time believed eligibility should be race-based. It explained 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 costed nearly $4b in 2024.

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

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

The Herald asked Labour to share its view on Te Pāti Māori’s policy, as it might need the party’s support to form a Government in the future. Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds said: “We have not considered the Te Pāti Māori policy as a caucus or party.

“Labour will not be making announcements on superannuation policy at the stage of the electoral cycle.”

Meanwhile, 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.

Ahead of the 2023 election, both Labour and 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.