National steals KiwiSaver crown
Monday, 22 June 2026
Sam Stubbs is the Managing Director of Simplicity.
OPINION: Yesterday’s announcement from the National Party that they will campaign on KiwiSaver being compulsory from birth, with a baby boost of $1500, parental leave top ups, and employer contributions continuing for those working past age 65, is a very big deal.
If made law, we will become even more a nation of savers, with many long term benefits. It will turn New Zealand from a traditionally capital- poor country into a capital- rich one, just as it has in Australia.
Because of its rising tide of savings, Australia has grown for 27 of the last 28 years, in spite of whatever the price of iron ore was at the time.
If this policy become law, New Zealand will almost certainly see the same rising tide of prosperity as Australia. It has six times our population, but thirty times our retirement savings.
National’s policy basically copies Australia’s world- leading model, which makes perfect sense to me. Let’s beat them on the sports field, but follow them with KiwiSaver.
This policy is politically savvy too, as KiwiSaver is very popular. The fund manager I work for, Simplicity, polled how popular KiwiSaver was, and found it ranked above New Zealand’s favourite brand, Whittakers chocolate. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense, as more than three million New Zealanders have a KiwiSaver account, with rising balances.
KiwiSaver has also helped many first home buyers and those that need hardship payments. And no KiwiSaver scheme has gone bust, with the Government and FMA making sure they don’t.
KiwiSaver has become the most trusted financial product in our generation, and is now the most loved.
Having seen how popular KiwiSaver was, we recently suggested to all major political parties that pinning their flag to growing KiwiSaver was a vote winning strategy.
National clearly now believes it is, and they have stolen the KiwiSaver moral authority from Labour. And whomever wins, it is now a KiwiSaver election.
So how should Labour respond? To my mind, the only thing they can now do is neutralise the political impact by saying they will do the same. And if Labour wants to steal back its KiwiSaver crown, and finish Michael Cullen's dream, there is still plenty to campaign on.
National haven’t addressed the problem that many employers use KiwiSaver contributions as an excuse to pay lower wages, which has to stop. And with employees still having to contribute, there is plenty of room for Labour to differentiate itself by going to Australian style employer- only contributions.
Rising KiwiSaver balances will also allow the Government to address the 100 pound fiscal gorilla we now have breaking our china, New Zealand Super annuation payments.
They will be $30 billion a year by 2030, leaving much less room for increased spending by any future Government. But rising KiwiSaver balances would mean future Governments could have a serious conversation with the public about means testing New Zealand Superannuation payments, or raising the entitlement age, knowing that most Kiwis will have a bigger nest egg.
Are there any losers from this policy? Possibly house prices, which are likely to remain flatter for longer, as people save more in KiwiSaver and have less to spend on investment properties.
But, to my mind, any impact is likely to be temporary, as the additional growth that comes from a more capital-rich economy will find its way into wages, salaries and property prices. Again, just look at Australia, with high retirement savings and high property prices.
For decades, National has been lukewarm on KiwiSaver, and cut its benefits many times. But Nicola Willis is now a convert and is stealing Labour’s KiwiSaver crown. It is now, very clearly, a KiwiSaver election. For all our futures, it has to be.