In what was apparently a pretty dire interview on The Nation this morning, Bill English dropped one bombshell:
Bill English won’t make same superannuation promise as John Key
…
Talking to Three’s The Nation, Prime Minister Bill English said people need to know what’s happening before the election, hinting there could be tweaks made.
I’m surprised, and I’m going to say good on English for committing to getting his policy out there before the election.
But with Mr Key’s departure, the fiscally conservative new Prime Minister says it’s a chance to “reset” expectations, with an aging population and more people working into their late 60s.
“I haven’t made the same undertaking as John, so we have the opportunity for a bit of a reset there.” But whether that means a change to the age of eligibility or its annual indexing to wages, he won’t say. “You’ll just have to wait and see. We would not anticipate any drastic changes.”
So we have a complete reversal from 2014. This time round it is Labour promising to leave super unchanged, and National proposing changes. For the record I believe that changes should be made to reduce the cost of super (as long as any rise in the age of eligibility has exceptions for manual workers or others whose health forces early retirement). Given our population structure we need to make savings in the cost of super in cases where the elderly are able to take care of themselves, and use the savings to reduce poverty and create opportunities for the young.
In short, I think English is right on this. For a change. Sure would have helped if he hadn’t stupidly gutted the Cullen fund though.
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