ACT against compulsory KiwiSaver - but won't call it a bottom line
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
ACT leader David Seymour is against National’s push to make KiwiSaver compulsory, but won’t call it a bottom line for potential coalition negotiations.
Seymour instead says there could be some room for carve-outs - such as a break from payments for people looking to pay back their mortgage.
National announced an intention on Sunday to make KiwiSaver compulsory if re-elected, with babies signed up at birth and the self-employed included.
NZ First backs the policy and suggested a very similar one last year, but on all recent polling ACT would be needed for National to form another government.
Read more:
Nicola Willis responds to equity concerns over KiwiSaver, Super mix, saying ‘we can have both’
Calculator: What National’s compulsory KiwiSaver could mean for you and your child
Seymour has criticised the policy as “exactly the kind of feel good, end bad policy ACT exists to hold the line on”.
On his way into Parliament on Tuesday he elaborated on his criticism.
“You've got to ask yourself, where's the money come from? Should a couple have to take longer to pay off their mortgage and pay more interest, because 12% of their money gets put into KiwiSaver? It's a massive win for the financial services sector, they get the fees on your KiwiSaver and more interest on your mortgage if you pay it off slower.”
“Should a couple that are starting a business, like I had on the weekends, electrical contractors, should they have to take 12% out of their business, put it into KiwiSaver, or should they be able to reinvest?”
Asked if it would be a “bottom line” issue during coalition talks however, Seymour demurred, suggesting he might support it if there was more flexibility or tax cuts to make up for the lost income.
“There's four months to go, so let us give us a chance to firm up our policy. This is obviously a surprise to everyone, but I actually think that this deserves a bit more debate than it's had before we all rush off and put 12% of national income into the hands of fund managers.”
He suggested this “flexibility” should include a holiday for KiwiSaver contributors who wanted to pay their mortgage down faster.
“Paying interest to the bank on the one hand, then paying KiwiSaver management fees on the other. Well, this is a great policy for the financial services sector. It's a huge gift to the banks. I'm not sure that it will leave people better off overall.”
National Party finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis said ACT was welcome to campaign on differing KiwiSaver settings.
“I think all parties should be coming to the election campaign with clear policies on KiwiSaver and superannuation, and I'll leave ACT to outline their own policy. But we're fighting for our policy.”
She said she was keen to make sure that those on low incomes did not miss the cumulative benefits that KiwiSaver provided, “making those small contributions over time”.
Willis said she did not recall any difficulty getting ACT over the line when the Government pushed default KiwiSaver rates up.
She pushed for Labour to come to the table and also put forward a KiwiSaver policy.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has said National “can’t be trusted” on KiwiSaver given the party’s history of cutting incentives for it but has not given a full view on whether or not he thinks KiwiSaver should be compulsory.
Hipkins was in Labour’s caucus when the party proposed compulsory KiwiSaver ahead of the 2014 election.
He said he would release Labour’s KiwiSaver policy in due course but he was worried about the impact of compulsion on the lowest earners.