KEY POINTS:
National Party finance spokesman Bill English says New Zealand's provisions for retirement saving are now very high by world standards - a clear hint that a National Government would scale them back.
He said the country now had:
* Universal national superannuation fixed at a higher proportion of the average wage than in Australia, where the pension is income- and asset-tested so that fewer than half of all retirees receive it.
* A pre-funded government savings scheme ("Cullen Fund"), which contains a higher level of pre-funding than most other Western countries.
* And, from this week, a private retirement savings scheme (KiwiSaver) which requires a higher proportion of saving than in Australia.
KiwiSaver takes 4 per cent or 8 per cent from the employee, a matching 4 per cent from employers from 2011, and up to another matching 4 per cent from the Government, capped at $20 a week.
"The Government has got a very large financial commitment to retirement income when it hasn't explained how that lines up with other needs such as increasing health costs and making sure children can read and write," he said.
He said National was not consulted on the enhanced KiwiSaver scheme announced in the Budget and had yet to decide how to treat the scheme if it won office next year.
But Mr English said: "We are looking at a more balanced approach that focuses on growth prospects for our economy in the next five to 10 years, not solely on savings.
"Savings are good but they are not the only thing, and we can't win the hearts and minds of 20-year-olds by telling them that the best thing about New Zealand is retiring into a plush rest home."
He declined to comment on whether National would keep the Government contribution of up to $20 a week, except to say that it was not a "tax credit" but a "grant".
"We have said that it looks expensive for what you get," he said. "The commitment from the Government is larger than the [forecast] increase in savings. You have to wonder whether that is the best deal."
