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A New Zealand woman, who has lived in Australia for 18 years, has lost her latest legal bid to be paid New Zealand superannuation.
A Court of Appeal judgment released today said Audrey Bredmeyer, 71, did not qualify for the Australian age pension because it was means-tested, and her and her husband's assets exceed the allowed level.
And because she was not entitled to receive an Australian age pension, the chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development said she was not entitled to receive any New Zealand superannuation.
Mrs Bredmeyer was born in New Zealand but moved overseas in 1968, firstly to Papua New Guinea and then to Australia.
In 2005 she applied for New Zealand superannuation and met the age and residence criteria for it. But New Zealand's reciprocal agreement with Australia stated the amount she was entitled to receive could not exceed the amount of Australian age pension that would have been payable "if she was entitled to receive an Australian age pension".
The Court of Appeal judgment, delivered by Justice Ellen France, said the reciprocal agreement may mean that someone like Mrs Bredmeyer was worse off having moved to Australia than she may have been if she moved to a country with which New Zealand did not have a reciprocal arrangement.
The Social Security Appeal Authority and High Court had previously ruled against Mrs Bredmeyer.
- NZPA
