Headline: Surely Key forgot 5-years old super pledge
John Key’s foolish pledge to resign rather than raise the super age is set to cost this country close to $30 billion by 2030, says Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker.
“John Key has a well-known habit of silly off-the-cuff remarks. He backs away from most of them by conveniently forgetting. But his accidental pledge to not raise the retirement age on pain of resignation is the only one he remembers and it’s by far the most costly.
“He made it five years ago. Surely he’s forgotten it by now. We could all move towards a sustainable future if he has.
“In just two years the cost of superannuation will be more than the Government spends on putting our children through the education system from early childhood to university.
“We cannot make the cost of paying for retirement more important than our children’s future. Everyone agrees on that. That’s why Labour has a policy of steadily increasing the retirement age to 67 from 2020 so we can genuinely afford our future and save our super.
“Treasury today showed how important this change is.
“National makes all sorts of noise about long-term fiscal sustainability but they are ignoring the ageing elephant in the room.
“The report doesn’t just give further credibility to our super policy. It also shows how mainstream a capital gains tax (excluding the family home) has become.
“Actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately for John Key he is all words and no action.
“He seems to think a glib one-liner is more important than the fiscal future of our country,” says David Parker.
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