Brash super talk ruffles rivals

Political parties of all persuasions turned on National yesterday after its leader's comments on superannuation entitlements.

Don Brash ignited another superannuation debate on Wednesday when he said current policy was unlikely to be sustainable after 2020.

At that point the age of entitlement would have to be addressed, he said, giving an assurance that a National Government under him would not change it before then.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen led the charge against Dr Brash in Parliament yesterday, saying the current entitlement to 65 per cent of the average wage at the age of 65 was sustainable under two conditions:

* No tax cuts to maintain the Government's revenue.

* Preservation of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

Dr Cullen told MPs the latest estimates had the fund contributing almost 35 per cent of the money required to pay for superannuation.

This is higher than earlier estimates.

National does not expect the fund to make anything like the predicted returns. Before the election it did have a policy to scrap the fund, but it is not clear if this still stands.

Dr Cullen said National was refusing to guarantee that those aged under 50 would get superannuation on the same basis as those older.

National threw back at Dr Cullen his past comments that in 20 to 25 years the age of entitlement would have to be reviewed.

Yesterday, Dr Cullen said there was no need to worry about eligibility unless parties planned to abolish the super fund and cut taxes.

New Zealand First and the Greens all said National would scrap the fund and raise the entitlement age.

Outside Parliament, Dr Cullen gave an "absolute" assurance that a Labour Government would not change the age level in the foreseeable future.

Green Party co-leader Rod Donald said he admired Dr Brash's honesty in telling people that voting for National meant the end of a decent retirement income.

United Future leader Peter Dunne renewed calls for a multi-party agreement on retirement issues.

Dr Brash said there was no doubt that by about 2020 a future government would need to consider a gradual, small increase in the age of eligibility.

- NZPA