Mike's Minute: Luxon might be fighting the wrong battle with super

It is suggested Peter Dutton in Australia lost the election because of his nuclear issue and work from home policies.

I personally think he lost because they ran a hopeless campaign. But it is more than possible that he floated a couple of ideas that the voter simply could not stomach.

I am wondering if Chris Luxon is heading in a similar direction here with superannuation.

Nuclear makes sense. Working from home hinders productivity. But the voter is always right and being a voter beats logic.

Will the voter be right here on superannuation? Are there enough New Zealanders who have landed on the simple truth that 65-years-old, as a pension age, is no longer sensible, nor affordable?

$28 billion is the bill each year, and growing. That seems worse now because we are broke. But even in good times it’s a stunning amount of money.

National will take it to the vote next year. They may be saved from themselves by NZ First, if they are still in the mix, because it will be a bottom line.

But we reach the interesting point where logic and emotion collide.

For many, superannuation is untouchable. It’s a lifetime's worth of work. "i paid my taxes" they say, even though that line isn't actually real because we spent your taxes years ago and then borrowed a bit more to keep the lights on.

65-years-old is the new 50-years-old and, post-Covid, older workers have never been in more demand. The days of being out to pasture are increasingly gone. 65-years-old is not old.

Imagine a day where you enter the workforce knowing you need to take care of yourself. Yes, if you strike trouble the pension is a welfare payment, not an entitlement.

But we either have to change the narrative and mindset from entitlement to welfare, or we need to up the age. In upping the age over time, even giving years worth of notice, it's still a very big call.

It underlines our desire for free stuff, or perceived free stuff. Once you set a precedent with money it is fantastically hard to undo.

But Luxon, apparently, is keen to give it a crack. He calls it a no brainer.

First clue - there aren't many who think it’s a no brainer. Labour learnt the hard way over the capital gains tax.

Luxon may be about to learn something similar.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Peter Dutton right in Australia, it is suggested, will
never truly know, but it is suggested lost the election
because of his new clear issue and work from home policies.
Now I personally think he lost because they ran a
hopeless campaign, but it is more than possible that he
floated a couple of ideas that the voter simply would
not stomach. And I'm wondering if Christopher Luxen is heading

(00:21):
in a similar direction here with the superannuation ideas, nuclear
makes sense. You can argue that nuclear makes sense, working
from home headens productivity. You can argue cogently about that
as well, But the voter's always right, and being a
voter beats logic sometimes will the voter be right here?
On superannuation? Are there enough New Zealanders who have landed
on the very simple truth that sixty five as a

(00:42):
pension age is no longer sensible nor affordable. It's going
to be twenty eight billion dollars a year before you know,
twenty eight billion dollars a year and growing, which seems
worse now because we're broke, of course, but even in
the best of times, it's a stunning amount of money.
National are going to take it to the vote next year.
They may be saved from themselves, of course by New Zealand.
First of they're still in the mix, because that'll be

(01:02):
a bottom line for them I'm imagining. But we reach
the interesting point where logic and emotion collide. Super for
many of us untouchable, it's a lifetime's worth of work.
I paid my taxes, even though that line isn't actually real.
I mean, we spent your taxes years ago and then
borrowed a bit more to keep the lights on. Sixty
five is the new fifty, and post COVID old older

(01:22):
workers have never been in more demand. The days are
being out to pasture are increasingly gone. Sixty five is
not old. Imagine a day where you enter the workforce
knowing you need to take care of yourself because the
rules have changed. I mean, yes, if you strike trouble,
the pigion is a welfare payment, not an entitlement. But
we either have to change the narrative and mindset from

(01:43):
entitlement to welfare, or we need to up the age.
Even in upping the age over time, even giving years
worth of notice, it's still a very very big core politically.
It underlines our desire for free stuff basically or perceived
free stuff. Once you set a precedent with money, it
is fantastically hard to undo. But Luxon apparently is super
again to give it a crack. He calls it a

(02:04):
no brainer. First clue, there aren't many who think it's
a no brainer. I mean, labour learned the hard way
over the capital gains tax. For goodness sake, it took
them three times to learn that. Lesson, Luxon may be
about to learn something similar. For more from the Mic
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