Chris Slane,The Listener, 2 December 1991
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, introduced in 1975 duringthe last months of the Third Labour government, was to be universal, portable and cash accumulation scheme, not ‘pay as you go’. The alternative, election-winning National Superannuation Scheme promoted by Robert Muldoon was funded out of taxation, paid to everyone at 60 and the means test was removed. Many years, and changes later, Muldoon, in the twilight of his political career, railed against the Bolger government for dishonouring its 1990 election promise to remove Labour’s surtax, which had effectively eliminated superannuation for those with higher retirement income. Today, there is again Superannuation Fund, and the argument has shifted, as significant losses have been disclosed, to how much of the burgeoning funds should be invested overseas.
