Commentary, submissions and presentations

Press releases

The Retirement Policy and Research Centre alerts the media to its contributions to the public debate:

Press Releases - WP 2009-2 finds that New Zealand is generous to its pensioners who leave to live overseas, but not to those who come to work in New Zealand with overseas pensions (80KB)

Executive Summary - WP 2009-2 provides an overview of the complex issues of pension portability and some directions for reform (241KB)

Press Release - PB 2009-5 NZS suggests that welfare and tax systems need to be considered together (123KB) August 2009

Press Release - PC Does the ACC need a fund? argues against pre-funding the ACC (70KB) August 2009

Press Release - PB 2009-1 OECD's Report "Growing Unequal" shows aged Kiwis faring well (145KB) April 2009

Press Release - KiwiSaver changes welcomed (127KB) 17 December 2008

Press release -  Concerns about latest changes to KiwiSaver (43KB) 17 May 2007

PensionCommentaries

Opinion pieces designed to provoke discussion on an issue of public significance.

Susan St John suggests we need to learn from more than 35 years of ACC history, and reach multi-party agreement on the way forward with this efficient and durable social insurance scheme.
PC 2009-2 The rationale for pre-funding ACC (557KB)

Michael Littlewood argues that the Accident Compensation Corporation does not need to pre-fund its obligations and should move to a 'pay as you go' basis.
PC 2009-1 Why does the Accident Compensation Corporation have a fund? (233KB)

Commentary

Susan St John: GSA Newsletter No. 80, 5 September 2009”. 
GSF Super Futures (1MB)

Susan St John: The Independent 26 November 2009”. 
Debate in the Independent (87KB)

Michael Littlewood: Financial Alert, 17 November 2008
On the relative values of KiwiSaver incentives - PensionCommentary (149KB)

Susan St John: New Zealand Herald, 15 October, 2008
KiwiSaver Policy (12KB) 

Michael Littlewood: National Business Review, 8 August, 2008
Comparing the incomparable (154KB)

Michael Littlewood: New Zealand Herald, 4 March, 2008
Employers should take charge (62KB)

Potential pitfalls with KiwiSaver, NZ Herald On Sunday, 17 June 2007
Potential pitfalls of KiwiSaver (69KB)

The flourishing of KiwiSaver contains the seeds of destruction for New Zealand Superannuation, critics of the Budget announcements, say.
Listener 2-8 June 2007 (67KB)

Neville Bennett, National Business Review, June 1 2007, The budget benefits the few but not the most.
Why KiwiSaver benefits the few but not the most (14KB)

Budget 2007: RPRC expresses concern about policy changes to KiwiSaver
press release 17 May (43KB)

KiwiSaver - do we really need tax breaks? 18 May 2007 Dominion Post
KiwiSaver and the Budget (68KB)

Professor John Gibson, 19 May 2007 Dominion Post
Cullen Condemns More Kiwis to Debt (16KB)

• Tax change - Tax reform fails to meet original aim (107KB)
• Taxation - Investment vehicles -There is a better way (100KB)

On 12 December 2006 the Government announced the extension of tax incentives to matching employer contributions to all superannuation schemes that meet the requirements of KiwiSaver. RPRC views this as the thin edge of the wedge that undermines the uniquely New Zealand tax neutral approach to retirement saving.
Saving Principle abandoned: Article New Zealand Herald 14 December 2006 (14KB)

Providers of KiwiSaver have a vested interest in promoting both tax incentives and ultimately compulsion. But is this in the interests of New Zealanders and is it any sense the 'solution' to the national saving problem?
Retirees doing fine (13KB)

Confusion reigns about the claimed economic benefits of KiwiSaver and the potentially more draconian compulsory savings accounts for which KiwiSaver might be the advance guard. More generally, debate about retirement savings in New Zealand has been misinformed by commentators who fallaciously claim advantages of individual retirement savings accounts like those in Australia.
John Gibson on savings (18KB)

Submissions

Submission on the Taxation (Consequential Rate Alignment and Remedial Matters) Bill, August 2009 (277KB)

Submission on the Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill, May 2009 (312KB)

Submission on the Census question on housing 13 July 2008 Submission on 2011 Census form (228KB)

Submission on the Taxation (Annual Rates, Business Taxation, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) 
      Bill, 13 July 2007 (185KB)

Submission to the 2007 Retirement Commission’s Review of Retirement Incomes Policies in New Zealand
2007 Retirement Policy Review RPRC (93KB)

Submission on the Taxation (Annual Rates, Savings, Investment, and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
Taxation Bill submission RPRC July 2006 (170KB)

Submission on Kiwisaver May 2006
Submission RPRC KiwiSaver (151KB)

Summary of oral submissions 28 September 2006 Waipuna Lodge
Oral Submission MTRS (156KB)
Milestones in the history of tax reform (70KB)

Submission on the Second interim report on the Taxation (Annual Rates, Savings Investment, and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill (48-1) (27 October 2006)
Taxation submission on the second interim report 9th November (72KB) 

Presentations

Susan St John "The 2008 Lincoln Efford Memorial Lecture", WEA, Christchurch, 11 November 2008 (1MB)

Susan St John "KiwiSaver and the ageing of the population: the next steps" ASFONZ 2008 Annual Conference; Sustainable Workplace Saving, Sky City, Auckland, 27 August 2008 (736KB)

Susan St John "How much ageing can we afford?" Keynote address to the New Zealand Association of Gerontology Conference Te Ropu Matauranga Kaumatuatanga o Aotearoa, Hamilton, 11 November 2007 (1MB)

Susan St John "KiwiSaver and the ageing of the population: the next steps" ASFONZ 2008 Annual Conference; Sustainable Workplace Saving, Sky City, Auckland, 27 August 2009 (736KB)

Susan St John "How much ageing can we afford?" Keynote address to the New Zealand Association of Gerontology Conference Te Ropu Matauranga Kaumatuatanga o Aotearoa, Hamilton, 11 November 2007  (1MB)

Susan St John "KiwiSaver may be good for individuals but is it good for society?" Chancellor's lecture series Massey University, 15 August 2007

"Retirement issues in New Zealand: Whatever happened to evidence based policymaking" LEANZ seminar, Auckland, 28 June 2009 (311KB)

Susan St John and Michael Littlewood "The dishevelling of the level playing field" presentation at the Economics Department Waikato University, 9 May 2007 (189KB)

Susan St John commentary on "The Life-Cycle Model Savings and Growth" by Andrew Coleman, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Workshop on Housing, savings and the household balance sheet, Reserve Bank, Wellington, 14 Novemer 2006 (40KB)

Michael Littlewood "The non-financial assets of New Zealand households" Presentation to the Australasian Investment Fiduciary Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand, 9 November 2006 (331KB)