Women,  low wage earners; and the self-employed should be extremely worried by Nationals proposal to introduce compulsory Kiwi Saver. The policy is a clumsy move, a pre- requisite for introducing means testing and raising the age of entitlement to NZ Super. If implemented its signals the end of one of the best retirement income schemes in the OECD, a world Tier one leader (NZ Superannuation) and all to achieve National party fiscal ideology.

Nationals move is compounded further by copying parts of the complex and costly Aussie Super scheme dominated by tax concessions, likely to be the next step in Nationals policy development. Compulsion schemes usually are accompanied by tax credits. Note the 1992 Todd Task Force on Private Provision for Retirement report, “A likely outcome of compulsory savings scheme is “means testing”.

Women have been kept from poverty by the current universal Super retirement scheme, not dependent on paid work, and with Kiwi Saver being elevated as the dominant savings scheme, but not applying to self-employed or un-employed, the disparity of savings income will hit women dearly. The self-employed will receive no employee contribution, and the lower income are never the concern of right-wing politician, other than a diversion for other goals. Young people while many are in Kiwi Saver, are not house buying like older generations, and they will need universal NZ Super perhaps more than today’s baby boomers, but there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Nationals move is contrary to the recommendations of its own advisory body the Crown entity known as the Retirement Commission, who in 2025 advised “Government compulsion must not occur without a Whole of retirement income review”

National cherry picks policy recommendations in many areas, virtually never adopting a whole of Policy review approach, a dangerous trend.

National has a long history of knee jerk changes to Kiwi Saver, mostly negative, Carol M Kopp 2026 research said “Income inequality is the disparity of incomes across a population. Some income inequality is always to be expected because people bring different degrees of talent, effort, and luck to their endeavours. But large imbalances in income have been caused and maintained by discrimination, taxation policies, the downfall of labour unions, troublesome  economic conditions such as slow growth and high inflation… Sounds like Willis

• First cut came 2009, 2 yrs after Kiwi Saver began when a National Govt cut the minimum contribution from 4% to 2% (partially reversed 2013), abolished the member fee subsidy of $40, and ended the Kiwi Saver employer tax credit.
• National then introduced the total remuneration principle, targeting high earners, but employers have used this change, to avoid making Kiwi saver contributions for lower paid. Described by Labour as “loophole “policy, total remuneration allows employers strike individual agreements with their employees, so they can deduct their employer contributions from those employee salaries.
• In 2012 National halved the Government contribution to 50 cents for every $1 contributed to a maximum of $523 per year, down from the previous $1040
• In 2015 National removed the $1000 Kickstarter payment.
• *In 2017 without warning, National revealed it would raise the age of entitlement to NZ Super from 65 to 67, staged.
• 1n 2025 National halved again the maximum govt contribution from $521 to $260.72.
• National proposes compulsory Kiwi Saver, increase progressively Kiwi Saver contributions,6% employee and 6% employer

Summary Nationals’ plans are a pre cursor to raising the age of entitlement and means testing

Article written Alec Waugh Aug 2026