Dalziel Lianne: KiwiSaver Bill — In Committee 
Dalziel Lianne: KiwiSaver Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:633;Page:4923] 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Commerce) 
: 
 I have found it very interesting to listen to members of the National Party commenting on the KiwiSaver legislation. I have been trying to understand what they are trying to say but the message seems to be so fundamentally mixed. They have missed the point of the effect of their Government’s decision in 1975 to end a superannuation scheme that might have made John Key’s comparisons with Singapore sound sincere—we might have been in a similar position to Singapore today if a superannuation scheme had been allowed to continue since 1975. But no National Party members have always known better than everyone else in terms of what will do and talking about buying elections that 1975 decision will stand this country in ill stead for a very very long time. 
This is about making a difference. It is about turning things around. The scheme that Dr Michael Cullen introduced in order to smooth out the superannuation scheme that exists for all of us was the first big step this Government took to right the wrongs of the past. This bill is the next big step that we are taking. I cannot understand why National Party members are so opposed to a scheme that will enable people who have the opportunity to save to actually become savers—a scheme that will inculcate a savings culture in this country that we lost the opportunity to pursue in 1975 with an outrageous promise we could never afford to keep. 
Pansy Wong and Katherine Rich both talked about families who do not earn enough to save. Both ignored the Working for Families package which was the alternative under our Government to a pack of tax cuts that would have destroyed those families once and for all. Pansy Wong and Katherine Rich also ignore the impact of the Employment Contracts Act on ordinary working people in this country who throughout the 1990s saw their pay and conditions of employment slashed. We saw wages and conditions of employment coming down in New Zealand as they went up in Australia. National Party members ask why people went from New Zealand to Australia. They went because the Employment Contracts Act drove them overseas. 
National Party members talk about the lack of depth in our capital markets and then watch with envy Australia which is awash with money because of a compulsory superannuation scheme entered into a number of years ago. What I think is incredible about the National Party’s absolute gall in terms of the position it has adopted—I am not allowed to use the “h” word to describe it—is that it ignores the reality of the opt-out provisions for new employment. The opt-out provisions are there for new employees so that they do not have to stay in the scheme if they do not want to. But National Party members completely ignore the fact that this legislation enables any New Zealander to opt in. All National Party members want to do is bag us and bad mouth us. They have done the same with superannuation; they have been making it into a political football ever since I was 15 years old. I hope this is the end of that. 
Not one single National Party member has stood up and said that the party will get rid of this scheme if it ever becomes the Government. I believe that the Labour Party will be in Government long enough for this scheme to become completely part of the New Zealand psyche. Everyone will want to have a KiwiSaver account. I agree entirely with contributions that have been made in this Chamber that have suggested it is parents who will tell their kids not to let it happen again and to get themselves a KiwiSaver account as soon as they start a job and never let it go. The reality is that KiwiSaver will give people the base for their first home. But it will also give them the base for a retirement income that will supplement New Zealand superannuation. New Zealand superannuation will still be in place when they are older and the simple reason is that this Government has taken responsibility for it once and for all. I am really proud to be part of a Government that has made superannuation part of its commitment to New Zealand and will continue to do so.