Good Afternoon,
The coming election is going to be pivotal for the direction of our country. What is needed now more than anything else is real skill, and serious experience in the next government.
You here today know that more than most. You've seen governments of various stripes come and go and do nothing more than manage the decline of this once great country.
In 2026 this country needs Members of Parliament that have a proven track record of delivery and competence, who have the right experience and know-how, to enhance and support this nation and its people.
Thirty-three years ago, we created this party, and over the following decades we have remained steadfast, and grown to become the most successful new political party in modern New Zealand history.
Superannuation
Let's make one thing very clear. New Zealand First does not support changes to the entitlement or eligibility of New Zealand Superannuation. We don't support raising the age to 67 as some have proposed, we don't support means testing as some have proposed, nor do we believe that Superannuation is unaffordable as some have proposed.
NZ First Defending NZ Super
Defending NZ Super was one of the reasons we came to be a political party.
We attacked the pernicious surtax which the Labour Party brought in and the National Party increased.
And exposed those politicians who would sell older people down the drain.
We fought the National Party bid to slash super from 65% of the net average working wage down to 60%.
We repealed the surtax.
And we legislated for NZ Super to be not 65% as it once was when National and Labour reduced it, but 66 per cent of the net average wage.
We wrote that percentage into law.
We worked hard for our elderly providing extra money for elective surgery; funding tens of thousands more operations, providing free influenza vaccines for seniors, and we introduced the SuperGold Card.
That means free bus rides, train rides, ferry rides and tens of thousands of businesses honouring the SuperGold card price concessions.
Important fiscal facts
At the moment NZ's experiencing the most unusual political debate.
All the other parties are telling you what they are going to spend, but only one party, NZ First, is talking about an economic plan to uplift this countries earnings and afford what the other parties are going to spend.
And don't listen to the doom merchants who have spread their propaganda over the affordability of NZ Super.
What these doom merchants are admitting is that they can't run the economy properly so year after year we grow much higher than 3 per cent.
Because they have no such plan their policy is to mask their failure with attacks on the old and the young.
They haven't got a credible economic strategy and the only way they can balance the books is by further selling state assets that your grand parents built and cutting payments to the old.
Much of it comes from vested interests who want superannuation funds, not spent on smoothing out future retirement costs, but something sinister - they want the Superannuation Fund privatised.
If you doubt that then why have they never mentioned the fund when they talk about future costs.
Here are the facts:
Our NZ Super is world class and is recognised as such around the world.
At 5.2 percent net of GDP per year the cost of New Zealand Super is low by international standards.
Our record compares very well with an OECD average of around 9%.
NZ Super ensures all Kiwis have some retirement income security.
Our NZ Super as a percentage of GDP would stay the same even with an ageing population, with the top up of the Super Fund, and with New Zealand doubling its GDP by 2050.
Plus tens of thousands of seniors are working way past 65 years of age and none of the economic experts are factoring this into their calculations.
With the sharks of the other parties circling around your retirement payments, it is vitally important for you to know what you are voting for.
A Labour, Green, Maori Party, Opportunity Government will be a total shambles for our seniors.
What did the leader of the Opportunity Party say when questioned about a couple on the pension, who worked hard and saved all their lives, bought a house for their future and their children's future, who would now, under Opportunity Party, face a $20k land tax bill every year? She said, yes, they will have to downsize their house to afford it.
This is totally ignorant. But it gets worse.
Do you know what Opportunity's $20k per senior couple home tax revenue would be used for?
- Critical Infrastructure?
- Supporting the Healthcare system?
- Education?
- Fuel security?
- Stabilising food prices?
No.
The $20k land tax per annum taken from you will be used to give everyone in New Zealand, working or not, a Universal Basic Income of $19,400 a year - for free, for life.
The Opportunity Party calls that "Fairness"
We call it what it truly is - "Communism"
And now here is the real stinger for you all.
Opportunity proposes that this Universal Basic Income will replace the Superannuation scheme as we know it.
You have worked incredibly hard, some of you since the age of 15. You've saved, bought a house, paid your taxes and contributed.
What will you get for it under the left?
A new $20k tax bill funding a benefit for all, and no Superannuation.
Universal Basic Income won't even come close to what you need to live.
The question is, what are you, as the voter, going to do about it?
This "robbing Peter to pay Paul" approach is as shallow as it is obnoxious.
We're talking about governing here, not some 101 political science group project. This isn't amateur hour.
The left bloc wants
- Capital Gains taxes,
- Wealth taxes,
- Inheritance taxes,
- Land Value taxes,
- Asset Taxes,
- and Gift taxes.
As one person once said "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money". Anyone with half a brain and enough gumption to leave Wellington and work hard for their money can appreciate this isn't a credible path to national prosperity.
This is the sort of policy direction you expect under Labour, the Green Party and Opportunity and TPM.
Seniors Policy
New Zealand First understands the real pressures that are put on our Seniors.
We will continue to deliver important and practical solutions.
In the last two and a half years, we've delivered improvements to the rates rebate scheme thresholds,
· retained the Winter Energy Payment,
· boosted Super payments by $84 per fortnight for a single, and $130 for couples.
· We've put $35 million of funding allocation to make the SuperGold card a valid form of government ID, in case you don't have a driver license or passport.
New Zealand First is acutely aware of the challenges and also the opportunities that our ageing population will create. We are seeking bipartisan agreement on aged care reform after securing a select committee inquiry and ministerial advisory group to look into the issues.
Experience Matters
Ladies and Gentlemen, we started our long campaign in March this year and have been packing the halls around the country ever since.
We're delivering the message to thousands of Kiwis that we are focussed on two things - campaigning on the bold policies that our country needs to drive real change, and the promise continue to fight for ordinary hard-working kiwis against the establishment, elitist, status quo.
Bold Policies
Now is not the time for weak leadership.
We need leaders of the next government to say the things that people are thinking without fear or favour.
We need leaders to say the things that might be unpopular.
To say the things that others only talk about behind closed doors but are too afraid of the backlash from the left, or worse, the mainstream media.
We simply cannot continue to allow the two old parties to tinker round the edges of big issues and do nothing but manage the decline of our country.
It is high time we move away from the Pepsi or Coke type politics we've had for the last few decades.
We will create a $100 billion future fund to invest in a thirty-year infrastructure plan for our country. Not the on-off approach to infrastructure we've seen.
We will future proof our fuel security by investing $1 billion over the next term of government in a 'National Subsurface Development Survey'.
We face an ongoing existential threat to fuel security and supply, all because we are totally susceptible to the geopolitical choices made by other nations.
Fossil fuels aren't going anywhere for the time being.
As much as the left will decry anything extracted from the ground, the simple reality is that cheap and readily available energy is the lifeblood of any economy. Alongside this, we will create
- A special economic Zone in Marsden Point.
- We will continue to fight against high costs by breaking up the gentailers to make power prices more affordable again.
- We will buy back the BNZ and drive down bank costs.
- We will invest in your grandkids future by making Kiwisaver compulsory, with an automatic $1000 at birth. This will create a whole generation of Kiwis investors from birth. We call this the "Kiwisaver Generation".
- We will pull out of the failing Paris Agreement that is senselessly hamstringing our economy.
New Zealand has one of the loosest electoral laws in the world.
We want to bring meaning to citizenship and that is why we have announced that by 2029 only citizens will be allowed to vote in our country.
We will establish a proper transparent inquiry into those who were injured by the Covid-19 vaccine - so we can find out exactly what happened, who was responsible, and publicly hold them to account.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen, we've played our role in this government as a stable, experienced and prudent coalition partner.
More importantly, we have been a steadfast advocate of the issues that matter to you - jobs, health, education, economy and retirement.
We constantly punch well above our weight. We have achieved so much with just eight MPs. Imagine what we could do if we had more. We can't fly a microlight to the moon, but if you give us a rocket, we will, together, reach the stars.
We must change the path we are on as a country and make New Zealand the number one country in the world, like we once were.
There is a lot of uncertainty around the world and at home, but with hard work and perseverance, tomorrow will be better. We live in a country that, at its core, traditional New Zealand values once saw us amongst the world leaders.
We have inherited a country that our forebears fought and died for, but only if we are proud of what we inherited can we come together and move forward to shape the vision of our country's future.
