By EUGENE BIGNHAM
Crossfire broke out on the political battleground of superannuation yesterday as Michael Cullen set his sights on National, who returned fire with comments by the Prime Minister.
Finance Minister Cullen described threats by National's Bill English to plunder the proposed Government pension fund as "kamikaze politics."
But Mr English had latched on to comments by Prime Minister Helen Clark as a sign that Dr Cullen's plans were on shaky ground.
Helen Clark was reported as saying the Government could set aside money for future pension payments without setting up the pre-funded scheme favoured by Dr Cullen.
"One way or the other, provision will be made.
"It's a question of if and when it can be a formal provision," Helen Clark said at the weekend.
"I'm quite relaxed about how it's done but it will ease the pressure for the future if there's prudent provision."
Mr English said Helen Clark was floating a backup plan.
"That's because she knows it will be a hard ask to get 61 votes for Cullen's poorly thought-out approach," said Mr English.
"If she can't even get half of Parliament to agree to Labour's idea when she's in Government then what hope does this scheme have of lasting the 40 to 60 years she talks about?"
Dr Cullen, meanwhile, mocked Mr English's threat that an incoming National Administration would drain the Government's planned fund to pay off debt and look to tax cuts if the scheme were unsatisfactory.
"If that's the message the National Party wants to take into the next election campaign, my message to the National Party is, 'Make my day'," said Dr Cullen.
"It is kamikaze politics.
"New Zealanders will not vote for tax cuts for the wealthy at the cost of insecurity in old age for everyone else."
Cullen scorns superannuation sceptic
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