NEW ZEALAND INDEPENDENT COALITION MEDIA RELEASE

A fair deal for all seniors

“NZ Independent Coalition is advocating for superannuitants with an overseas pension, earned from their voluntary contributions, to be able to keep their money,” said leader Brendan Horan.

“That will put them on the same basis as people with Kiwisaver or other savings built up in New Zealand. At present, people effectively lose their overseas pensions, and the Government confiscates the money, leaving seniors with only NZ Superannuation.

“Let’s be clear: we are talking about overseas personal retirement savings annuities, earned from people’s occupational employee/employer contributions. It is not a state-funded pension. It is much more like Kiwisaver than anything close to NZ Superannuation,” he said.

The New Zealand Government has consistently refused to acknowledge the legalised theft of private superannuation savings funds, instead hiding behind a law that loosely allows them to treat these funds as public. The hardship resulting from the policy is widespread and causing many pensioners to live in impoverished conditions.

The current policy is a convenient $400 million per year cash cow for the New Zealand Government, robbing and plundering many seniors who have worked hard and put extra cash away toward being a little better off in old age.

The deduction can amount to $5000 per year - and more when a partner’s overseas pension is taken into account. Currently many pensioners have suffered greatly, up to $500,000 in extreme cases under this horrendous injustice, forcing them into a state of penury. This has to quickly change and certain responsibilities are to be acknowledged and the injustice corrected.

The NZ Independent Coalition advocates to:

1. Remove foreign personal savings annuities built up by voluntary contributions from the scope of Section 70 of the Social Security Act.

2. Discontinue the policy of deducting a person’s overseas pension from their partner’s superannuation entitlement.

3. Clarify the wording of Section 70 so it is plain English, and sets out each countries pension regulations

4. Support the Retirement Policy & Research Centre and the Human Rights Commission recent recommendations on entitlement to superannuation in New Zealand.

5. Refund to pensioners affected by the injustices of Section 70, over a period of five years, all overseas monies deducted under the Act from their New Zealand Superannuation entitlement.

“Along with our commitment to boosting NZ Super for seniors, NZ Independent Coalition is committed to ensuring a fair deal for all seniors.

“And with moving to a zero-fee model for tertiary education and a Ministry of Job Creation, this can be funded by implementing a Financial Transaction Tax on banks and foreign exchange traders - the untaxed sector,” said Brendan Horan.

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