National will run on raising super age ‘as soon as we get back in’ – Christopher Luxon

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed National would run on lifting the super age. Photo / Michael Craig

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed his party will campaign on lifting the age of eligibility for superannuation at this year’s election, although he declined to mention specifics.

Luxon confirmed the policy on Kerre Woodham Mornings on Newstalk ZB. National had previously said it would run on some kind of policy to make superannuation more affordable, although it had not yet confirmed that policy.

“We will go to the election with another election policy around superannuation and lifting the retirement age for sure,” Luxon said.

Asked when he would want to implement the policy, Luxon said he would “want to do it as soon as we get back in the second term”.

This quite likely does not mean National will campaign on lifting the super age next year. Luxon’s 2023 superannuation policy was to begin lifting the age in 2037, phasing the age increase over a period of time.

Luxon said he would need bipartisanship to lift the age.

He described the current system as “unworkable and unaffordable”.

Treasury’s December forecasts estimated the annual cost of superannuation will hit $30 billion by the end of the decade, up from $15.5b in 2020. Multiple Treasury briefings have warned that superannuation spending is becoming unsustainable and is squeezing out spending on other essential services like health and education.

Prime Minister John Key swore off raising the age of eligibility while the National leader. His successor, Bill English, campaigned on lifting the age and despite winning the largest share of the vote at the 2017 election, could not form a government.

Luxon said while he wanted to lift the age, “I need Labour and I need NZ First to come on board”.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins previously told Newstalk ZB that he is “open to a conversation about that [superannuation], but I think it has to be done in a constructive, bipartisan way”.

He said there should be “long-term consensus” on any changes.

Labour has its own fiscal challenges to deal with. It is currently trying to find $12.8b to pay for its promise to reverse the coalition’s pay equity changes.

NZ First leader Winston Peters posted to social media that his party will “never allow the hard-fought Kiwi super to be hacked away from our seniors for any short-term gain – the rest want to attack it and take it away”.

On Thursday, the OECD released its most recent country report on New Zealand and recommended indexing the age to life expectancy.