Political parties asked if they could work together on super
Despite a public desire for political consensus on superannuation, the Leaders' debate on TV One on Monday night showed that it's unlikely to be achieved.
Tuesday, November 2nd 1999, 12:00AM
Host Paul Holmes asked the leaders of the five main political parties if they were prepared to work together on the issue.
Labour leader Helen Clark said political consensus was reached earlier when National, Labour, the Alliance and later the United Party signed the Superannuation Accord.
National, she says, broke the Accord last year after it agreed to the New Zealand First-sponsored referendum on a compulsory retirement scheme, and when it unilaterally lowered the rate of New Zealand Superannuation.
"We went into the Accord with good faith," Clark says.
Likewise, Alliance leader Jim Anderton accused the National party of breaking its promises on superannuation.
"The National Party has done more to betray the elderly in this country than any other political party on the face of the earth."
Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said the parties had to work together, and said the Super 2000 Taskforce was a vehicle for achieving consensus.
The taskforce is due to present a recommendation to Government in November 2000 outlining the way forward.
"National will back what they recommend," Shipley said, even if it was a compulsory scheme.
Clark told the debate that if Labour leads the next government it would do away with the taskforce and it would implement its partially funded scheme.
Act leader Richard Prebble acknowledged that his party's policy (which was essentially the same as New Zealand First's) had been comprehensively defeated in the referendum.
"We accept that the electorate has said no to a savings based regime."
He says Act is prepared to work with other parties, including NZ First, to achieve agreement.
"Without agreement there will be no superannuation," he says.
"We are willing to sit down with every other party, including Winston Peters," Prebble said.
Shipley said superannuation would always be a mixture of public and private provision (as it is now) but didn't comment on the level of public provision.
Meanwhile, Clark said New Zealand Superannuation would remain a universal entitlement.
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