Sharechat Logo

KiwiSaver airborne

Wednesday 30th August 2006

Text too small?
KiwiSaver, the government's cornerstone savings policy has officially taken to the air.

Parliament passed the KiwiSaver Bill tonight by 71 to 48 votes with just the National Party voting against it.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen says the scheme is "an important milestone towards helping hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders secure their financial future."

"I am proud of KiwiSaver. It is a landmark policy which will make a real difference to the retirement dreams of thousands of New Zealanders."

"The National Party was the only party to vote against KiwiSaver. It is sad to see National so divided over the issue of saving that they voted against KiwiSaver despite a number of its members indicating they might change their minds and support the legislation at the third reading.

The workplace-based saving scheme will start on July 1 next year. The scheme will be voluntary, and those who enrol will get a $1000 start-up grant from the Government and help with a deposit to buy a home.

Employer contributions will be tax exempt and some of the savings can be used for mortgage payments.

National's finance spokesman, John Key, said he knew people had "savings issues" which needed to be addressed but he did not think Kiwisaver was going to work.

Key has criticised late changes to the bill saying letting people use their savings for mortgage repayments had changed it into a cheque account, and people would increase their mortgages when they had paid some of it off.

He has also described the late change to the bill making employer contributions tax exempt was a desperate attempt to generate some good news for the Government.

  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes
CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update
FPH initiates voluntary limited recall
March 28th Morning Report
KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt.
SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner
NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results
March 27th Morning Report