NZ First leader Winston Peters said his party plans to reform KiwiSaver by raising the contribution rates for both employers and employees to 10% of income, while reducing taxes to offset the higher contributions.
In an hour-long public speech on Sunday, Peters announced that NZ First would campaign to increase KiwiSaver contributions first to 8% of income and eventually to 10%.
“But here is the difference,” he said. “KiwiSavers and employers will receive tax cuts to cover the increases.”
However, Peters has not disclosed the potential cost or the timeline for implementing the contribution increase under his policy.
“We are going to turn KiwiSaver into a serious New Zealand asset-owning entity.”
Those tax cuts could potentially cost the government billions. Data from the Financial Markets Authority said Kiwis and employers contributed a total of $11.2 billion to KiwiSaver in the year ending March 2024.
Making KiwiSaver compulsory, as he also pledged, would add a million more contributors to the scheme, since 32% of current members are not contributing.
In addition to promising KiwiSaver reform, Peters stated that the Cabinet had approved legislation to “finally” recognise English as an official language of New Zealand.
He also criticised the economic “mess” left by the Labour Party and, referring to Fonterra’s sale of its brand division, condemned the “overseas fire sale” that is sending New Zealand’s wealth abroad.
“We need to remember some words like ‘incentivisation’ and ‘investment’ to get our economy running again,” he said.
Peters said the country needed “smart, not more, immigration”.
Highlighting anti-immigration protests in Australia and the United Kingdom, he said that “concerns are growing” about people arriving in New Zealand who “don’t salute our flag, don’t honour the values of our country, and don’t respect the people living here.”
“If you don’t want to sign up to those values, then we’ve got a very clear answer for you: don’t come,” he said.
Peters said NZ First would campaign for all migrants to sign a document pledging their commitment to Kiwi values.