I apologise for the delay in response.
Due to the very heavy volume of mail Mr Key has been receiving he has asked me to respond to you on his behalf.
The points and concerns raised in your letter are noted and understood.
Be assured that Mr Key understands that older New Zealanders have given a lifetime to this country and
deserve our respect and support.
National believes they should have dignity in retirement, be allowed to feel safe in their homes and communities,
and have opportunities to continue to contribute to society.
National is resolute in its commitment to the currently defined value, and age, of entitlement to New Zealand Superannuation.
This ensures that New Zealand Superannuation payments will go up as wages and prices go up.
There will be no income test for Superannuation, no asset test and no surcharge.
Some of the issues that our 60-plus members tell us concern them include:
These are issues a National government will address.
With regard to KiwiSaver.
National believes that the Government's emphasis on savings is unbalanced because people over the age of 65 get no
benefit from the large fiscal surpluses that this Labour government has chosen to run,
and many low and middle income people miss out because they simply can*t afford to save.
In fact, the Government estimates that only about 50% of the workforce will eventually take up KiwiSaver.
National is taking the opportunity to consider options for a more balanced use of any government surpluses.
The Government has made a number of important assumptions about certain elements in the new KiwiSaver design.
We need to wait to see if they've got these right and if not, how best to fix them.
To do this we will continue to listen to feedback from people such as yourself.
Mr Key has asked his parliamentary colleague Craig Foss, National's Associate Finance Spokesman,
to have a close look at superannuation policy.
With around fifteen months to go until the next election, it will be some time before Nationa
publicly releases its superannuation policy.
Thank you for your interest.
Yours sincerely
Wayne Eagleson
Chief of Staff
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