And Labour will create a new tool for managing inflation without pumping up mortgage rates. This is the cleverest move of the lot. When the Reserve Bank wants to attack inflation, it takes money out of circulation. It raises interest rates, which increases mortgage payments.
That can really hurt families, especially when overpriced housing forces people into ever-higher debt.
But under Labour's policy, the Reserve Bank can increase KiwiSaver contribution rates instead of ramping up mortgages . That way, people don't entirely lose the money that leaves circulation. It is just stored away, in their name, waiting until they retire.
Would you rather the Reserve Bank take your money away or put it in your KiwiSaver? That's an easy one. But here's the thing about these kinds of policies: they don't have any impact within one election cycle.
For that reason, elections aren't won and lost on issues like KiwiSaver.
There are always shinier, more immediate problems to focus on. Issues like climate change or superannuation payments have the same problem.
But these are exactly the policies that really transform New Zealand over the long haul.
By the time these KiwiSaver changes have their full impact, David Cunliffe and David Parker will be long-gone from the political scene. The new version of KiwiSaver will have become part of the political furniture. Retirees of the 2040s won't even wonder who to credit for their comfort in retirement.
But somewhere - in a suitably understated Dunedin-area abode - David Parker will be wearing a suitably understated smile.
• Rob Salmond runs Polity, a Wellington-based analytics and communication firm.
