Interesting to see this on the Herald today. Pasted in full as it is
behind a pay wall. Comments after the article wording.

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Attributed to Jen�e Tibshraeny on 17/04/2025

Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Maori and social
development spokesperson Willie Jackson are unsupportive of
ethnicity-based Super eligibility. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour has clarified it does not support Te Pati Maori�s policy for
Maori to receive New Zealand Superannuation seven to 10 years before
everyone else.

Labour�s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds declined the opportunity
to shoot down the idea when first asked to share her view, saying:
�Labour will not be making announcements on superannuation policy at
the stage of the electoral cycle.�

But after the Herald published a story on Wednesday, Edmonds
clarified: �Labour has a long-standing position of keeping the
universal age of eligibility for NZ Super at 65.

�We have no plans to change that and would not support targeting
eligibility on the basis of ethnicity.�

Labour�s most senior Maori member of Parliament, Willie Jackson,
discussed the issue of Maori receiving Super before , Pakeha, to
reflect their lower life expectancy, during an interview with the
Herald last month.

He noted Labour hadn�t decided on its policy yet, but said: �That
won�t happen.

�It would cause resentment - not just with the right but with the left
also.

�You�d get so much resentment from elder Pakeha people. As much as we
do need target programmes, that sort of programme is dangerous and too divisive. We want to take everyone with us.�

Te Pati Maori explained its position in a statement: �Te Pati Maori is
clear � our people should be able to access superannuation seven to 10
years earlier than the rest of the population.

�Maori life expectancy is significantly lower, and many of our people
work in physically demanding jobs that take a toll well before
retirement age.

�It is unacceptable that Maori contribute to the system their whole
lives but die before they can benefit from it in the same way as
others. It isn�t just about the fact that we die sooner; it�s about
the fact that we need support sooner.�

Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen estimated lowering the age of eligibility by eight years, to 57, for Maori would have cost nearly $4
billion in 2024.

By way of context, the Government spent nearly $22b on Super in 2024 �
five times the amount it spent on Jobseeker Support and the Emergency
Benefit, and eight times what it spent on police.

The cost of Super is expected to rise to nearly $29b by 2029.

The Green Party said it supported �identifying ways to allow
flexibility in the age a person may receive New Zealand
Superannuation, for example to allow early entry for people with a
permanent health condition or disability, lower life expectancy such
as Maori, or as part of a just transition [away from fossil fuels]�.

While the gap between Maori and Pakeha life expectancy has been
closing in recent decades, it is still notable, according to 2019
Statistics New Zealand data.

Asian women in New Zealand have the highest life expectancy at 88
years, followed by Asian men at 85, European/other women at 85,
European/other men at 81, Pacific women at 79, Maori women at 77,
Pacific men at 75 and Maori men at 73.

When forming the Government in 2023, National promised NZ First it
would keep the age of eligibility for Super at 65. However, both it
and Act would like to lift the age to 67 over time.

Before the 2023 election, the Green Party supported keeping the age at
65.

-----

It is very interesting to see Willie Jackson's comments. Generally he
is far from moderate and it is good to see Labour carving out a policy separation like this. The risk remains though that in any future
coalition agreement between Labour and the Maori Party, this may be an
area where Labour caves in and perhaps Willie Jackson knows it.

The only way Labour can ensure they will not have to negotiate with
the Maori party after any future election is to take back the Maori
electorate seats, because the Maori Party never gets enough party
votes to be in Parliament with list-only MPs.


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Crash McBash

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