Zizi Sparks: Lower superannuation age for Māori not a long-term fix

This week Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi suggested lowering the New Zealand Superannuation age for Māori to 57 - eight years lower than the current requirement. Photo / NZME

OPINION

It's a sad situation when people on the cusp of retirement get sick and, worst-case scenario, miss out on the opportunity to enjoy their later years.

But it happens.

Too often you hear of people who don't reach their retirement years. They didn't get a chance to sit back, relax or receive superannuation.

Statistically, those who miss out are more likely to be Māori.

Stats NZ data shows between 2017 and 2019 the life expectancy for Māori was 73.4 for men and 77.1 for women. For non-Māori it was 80.9 for men and 84.4 for women.

This means, on average, non-Māori men live 7.5 years longer and women live 7.3 years longer.

This week Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi suggested lowering the New Zealand Superannuation age for Māori to 57 — eight years lower than the current requirement.

The Waiariki MP said the move would be justified because, on average, Māori have shorter lifespans than Pākehā.

About 10 days earlier population expert Paul Spoonley said the country needed to consider raising the age people receive their pension as the population continues to age.

He said people were living longer and in the near future between 20 and 30 per cent of New Zealand's population could be aged over 65.

In my view, the issue here is what Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen picks up on: "If the policy problem is that Māori live shorter lives, the policy solution is not to pay them earlier because they die sooner. The base of the issue is that we have health and education inequalities, and that is what we need to address."

Ministry of Health data shows Māori health status remains unequal with non-Māori across almost all chronic and infectious diseases.

In my view, those are the things that need addressing before we change the superannuation age.

Rather than lowering the superannuation age for Māori, why don't we focus on increasing their life expectancy?

Already the Government is making some efforts to do this by setting up the Māori Health Authority as part of nationwide health reforms. Under the reforms the authority will be responsible for ensuring the health system works well for Māori.

It will develop strategies and policies to drive better health outcomes for Māori.

The reforms will also include iwi-Māori partnership boards with decision-making roles at a local level.

But in the long term, changing eligibility isn't the right answer.

Instead, we need to spend time and money improving quality of life and life expectancy.