Peters fires up fast on sensitive super talk

It is still not clear how far Prime Minister Bill English is prepared to go with talk of a ‘‘reset’’ of state superannuation.

But whatever he is thinking, his comments - combined with those coming quick-fire from the Opposition yesterday - leave no doubt the issue is back in play.

And it has not taken Winston Peters long to return to his happy hunting ground; that super is only safe with NZ First

There were two sides to John Key’s promise not to change superannuation on his watch. Not to change the entitlement, and to quit if he did. Heads you lose, tails he loses. English has absolved himself of the same pledge, certainly on the first of those. And on the second? Well in the words of his favourite phrase, ‘‘you’ll have to wait and see’’, though any changes would not be ‘‘drastic’’.

Ever since he became leader he has left open the option of a revamp, describing Key’s pledge as ’’a product of its time’’.

But on TV3’S The Nation he firmed things up with talk of a ‘‘reset’’ as he worked through its long-term affordability - something Treasury has been warning about with metronomic regularity.

The options are an increase in the age (by far the most contentious) or a move away from the current formula for setting the payment, perhaps instead linking it to inflation.

Attempts to reduce the payment - set now at 66 per cent of the net average wage - proved a harsh lesson for National under Jenny Shipley. English will remember the pain and the back-track on that.

As for income or asset testing and any moves to resurrect the surcharge, which so wounded Labour and National in the 1980s and 1990s?

Well let’s say it would be a foolish or brave politician.

Little was quick to criticise English for creating uncertainty, while reiterating his pledge - part of his own ‘‘reset’’ of Labour policies - of no change to the age of

"The message to all those retired and soon-to-retire is that there is only one party you can trust on this issue." NZ First leader Winston Peters

entitlement. But on the other elements, such as the indexation formula, he was equivocal.

‘‘I’m not in favour of a whole lot of change to superannuation but equally, because I haven’t looked at those other elements, I’m not going to say everything is absolutely set in stone. But I am reluctant to ... make any significant change to entitlements, because I think people do plan well ahead and need to have certainty,’’ he said yesterday.

Enter Winston Raymond Peters attacking what he calls the ‘‘doomsday narrative’’.

‘‘Kiwis are being railroaded into thinking New Zealand Superannuation is unaffordable’’ by ‘‘all sorts of self-appointed experts, including political parties’’.

But gross domestic product will rise, increasing the ability of the economy to pay for retirees, and 86,000 older immigrants over the past 15 years have been paid super after 10 years residency - so how come that’s affordable?

‘‘The message to all those retired and soon-to-retire is that there is only one party you can trust on this issue.’’

As an election mantra it is an oldie - in more ways than one - but a goodie.