NBR ONLINE POLL: Massive support for pension age change
NBR ONLINE subscribers overwhelmingly support pension age change.
NBR ONLINE subscribers are joining the clamour for change in the retirement age debate.
The latest NBR ONLINE Business Pulse Poll reveals overwhelming support for raising the age of entitlement for state-funded superannuation: 81% of subscribers agree the age should be raised from 65 to 70, gradually, from 2020 onwards. Only 19% disagree.
National says it won’t budge on its 2008 and 2011 election promises not to change the pension age.
Labour wants to raise the superannuation eligibility age to 67 and pressure is building on National to comply, with change being presented as necessary to remedy "intergenerational unfairness".
Prime Minister John Key’s 2008 promise was remarkable for its extremity: “National will retain all the superannuation entitlements and eligibility rules that our senior citizens currently enjoy.
"We will keep this pledge and I will resign as prime minister, and as a member of our parliament, rather than break it.
“What’s more,” Mr Key said, “as we cut taxes and grow average after-tax wages, we will progressively increase the amount of super paid to senior citizens.”
NBR political commentator Mathew Hooton says National strategists argue such an unequivocal promise was essential to winning in 2008 and for the hair’s-breadth re-election of 2011 – but it was, and is, economic lunacy.
The week-long NBR ONLINE Business Pulse poll closed this morning.
Georgina Bond
Tue, 05 Jun 2012
Tue, 05 Jun 2012
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NBR ONLINE POLL: Massive support for pension age change
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