Listen to The Country online: Duck debate with Fish & Game CEO, Corina Jordan
Fish & Game chief executive Corina Jordan talked to Jamie Mackay about ducks on today's show. Photo / Warren Buckland
Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Fish & Game chief executive Corina Jordan, who has responded to Dr Jacqueline Rowarth's piece on ducks and the environment.
On with the show:
Richard McIntyre:
Federated Farmers is calling on the Government to deliver on National's pre-election promise to change KiwiSaver rules to help young farmers get their foot on the farming ladder.
On the eve of the 2023 election, National pledged that, if elected to Government, they would allow young farmers to use their KiwiSaver to buy their first home, farm, herd, or flock, says the Federated Farmers dairy chair.
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1News
10 hours ago
- 1News
Call to rethink tax on KiwiSaver
KiwiSaver members could be significantly better off if New Zealand adopted a taxation model similar to Australia's, an economist says. Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub ran some numbers modelling a system similar to Australia's, where contributions and returns are taxed at 15%. In New Zealand, full tax is paid on income contributed to KiwiSaver, and returns in PIE schemes taxed at an investor's prescribed investor rate up to 28%. Eaqub said an "average" KiwiSaver investor starting now could end up $60,000 better off in nominal terms at retirement on a model similar to Australia's. If tax was not paid on contributions or returns, they could be about $1 million better off - and if only taxes on returns were removed the gain would be about $300,000. "In Australia, the context is there's some conversation about whether the tax breaks are too generous for richer people. It's not that it's perfect but the point is in other countries it's heavily incentivised for people to save in their private pension." ADVERTISEMENT But it was not in New Zealand. Kirk Hope, chief executive of the Financial Services Council, which represents KiwiSaver providers, said the Australian model was different because that country has a means-tested pension. "The tax break that occurs in New Zealand occurs when you retire, when you get national super... that is the equivalent of about $500,000. So I think it's hard to do a comparative analysis without acknowledging that there are significant differences between the schemes and what they are trying to achieve." Winter's here, supermarket spying, and TikTok's new feature. (Source: 1News) But he said if the tax on savings for New Zealanders was reduced it would give future governments more "fiscal options" in relation to superannuation. He said New Zealand previously had a system that was EET — or exempt, exempt, taxed, where contributions were tax-exempt, exempt from tax within the scheme and then fully taxed when withdrawn. The Tax Working Group in 2018 acknowledged that the change from that system had potentially created incentives for New Zealanders to direct savings into investments like houses instead. ADVERTISEMENT Hope said it would be expensive to adjust back to EET but there could be other changes that would be more affordable. The tax working group estimated that ignoring behavioural changes, it would cost $200m to $300m a year to move to a system where returns and withdrawals were not taxed, and $2.5b a year to move to an EET system. "The higher initial cost for an EET regime arises from the fact that there will be a substantial deferral period before significant amounts are withdrawn from the scheme, and thus taxed under the third 't'. Although these are very different initial costs, the costs will be the same in the long run on a net present value basis." Hope said providing different forms of tax incentives would be beneficial for savers. He said removing or reducing the employer contribution tax would be particularly useful for low-income people. Kernel Wealth founder Dean Anderson said New Zealand was one of the few countries operating a TTE — taxed contributions, taxed returns and exempt withdrawal — model. "Our future savings would be much better off under an EET approach, where we don't pay tax on the way in but on the way out. ADVERTISEMENT "With low savings rates in NZ, the government should be exploring everything in its powers to grow savings rates, which benefits NZ and Kiwis over the long term. "But it's not a surprise. The recent meek KiwiSaver policy announcement did all the hard work to announce a positive gradual increase to KiwiSaver contributions, yet they fell short by announcing a three-year policy rather than outlining a decade plus long policy of incremental KiwiSaver increases." Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive at Pie Funds, said KiwiSaver members were at a disadvantage compared to Australians because there was no upfront tax incentive or concession as in Australia to encourage them to contribute more. "Maybe consideration of a mid-tier flat tax rate on savings up to a certain amount would encourage savings." She said employer contributions were also taxed so investors lost the benefits of compounding, and investors paid tax on bonds and deemed dividends on global equities so they were effectively paying a capital gains tax. "So contrary to the government's stated goal of helping New Zealanders' grow their KiwiSaver balances, these factors mean New Zealanders have less incentives to make voluntary contributions and pay more tax on investment earnings, resulting in smaller balances at retirement relative to our Australian friends."
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- RNZ News
The House: Parliamentary week achieves two out of three goals
Still, two out of three isn't bad. Photo: 123RF While Parliament's week was dominated by its final event - Thursday's debate on the report from the Privileges Committee into a haka performed in the chamber - the rest of the week focussed on other business that, while more mundane, was still worthy of note. The Government appeared to have three objectives for this week in the house. Crucial to the administration's continuance, the first goal was to successfully complete the initial debate on the budget. The long initial budget debate could no longer dribble on over weeks, so the house spent six hours of the week completing the second reading debate, which is the first debate a budget gets. The reading was accomplished and so the Government continues. This may sound silly, but a Government cannot survive, if the house votes against its budget. Agreeing to vote for budget and taxation bills are the 'supply' portion of the 'confidence and supply' agreement that is the foundation of any coalition agreement. The budget focus now turns to select committees and what is called 'Scrutiny Week', when ministers appear before various subject committees to defend their budget plans. Scrutiny Week begins on 16 June. A second objective was possibly not in earlier plans for this week - to finally polish off the bills originally slated for completion two weeks ago during budget week urgency. Then, the Leader of the House had asked the house to accord urgency for 12 bills the Government hoped to progress through 30 stages of parliamentary debate. The plan was ambitious and it did not succeed. Despite day-long sittings until midnight Saturday (when urgency must end), only two bills were completed, others were untouched, and 13 stages were unfinished or unstarted. This week's plan for the house had MPs returning to the well for more of the same. Just like last time, progress was at a snail's pace. After quite a few hours, the Government had slugged its way through just a few more stages. The plan was slowed to a crawl by bills' committee stages (formally known as the Committee of the Whole House). Committee stages are a crucial way for MPs to publicly interrogate the minister in charge of a bill. With patience, they can tease out a lot about both a government's development of legislation and its intended real-world impacts. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi moved the vote on his own punishment. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Because the committee stage has no set duration, it is also a way for the opposition to make the Government really work for progress. The Government did achieve progress on the bills left incomplete from budget week, but again, it was probably not what was hoped for. They will need to come back yet again in three weeks to have a third crack. The Opposition is showing itself to be quite effective at the filibuster. The Government's third objective was to have the debate on the recent Privileges Committee Report on three Te Pāti Māori MPs done by the week's end. As Leader of the House Chris Bishop said in re-initiating the debate: "My encouragement would be for everybody to finish this debate today. "Have a robust debate, but let's end this issue once and for all, and deal with the issue and get back to the major issues facing this country." That wish was fulfilled with apparent agreement from across the house. As 6pm neared, the MP who eventually moved that a vote be taken was Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. The frankly fascinating debate on the report will be reported separately. - RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
14 hours ago
- Scoop
KiwiSaver Providers Hope Public Support For Contribution Increases Will See Default Rates Move Higher
KiwiSaver providers are unsurprised by the public support, and hope it will see default contribution rates increase further. Susan Edmunds, Money Correspondent KiwiSaver providers are hoping public support for increased contribution rates could provide the incentive to push them still higher. The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll included questions about the changes to the KiwiSaver scheme announced in the Budget. From 1 April next year, the default contribution rate for employers and employees will rise to 3.5 percent. The following April, it will be 4 percent. But the government will halve the credit it offers to people who contribute at least $1042 a year to their KiwiSaver, to a maximum $260.72. It will not be available to people earning more than $180,000. The poll showed a total of 61.2 percent of respondents supported the contribution change, 21.4 percent opposed it and 17.4 percent were not sure. Among National voters, almost 80 percent supported the change. But only 23.7 percent of total voters supported the government's move to halve the contribution rate, and fewer than half of National supporters. Fisher Funds chief investment officer Ashley Gardyne said he was not surprised by the findings. He said we should not stop at 4 percent plus 4 percent, and should push towards higher contribution rates. 'I think it's really positive we've seen the contribution rates increase, and ultimately if we want people to get to the right amount of savings in retirement those rates do need to move up through time.' He said the Australian model, where contribution rates slowly lifted over a number of years, could be one to follow. 'They took a really long-term, 10-year approach of increasing contributions by a little bit every year. The reality is it's tough to find extra money in your pay cheque to put into KiwiSaver but it is really important long-term as well to make sure you end up in the right position for retirement. 'Having a long-term vision like that is really important.' Kirk Hope, chief executive of the Financial Services Council, which represents KiwiSaver providers, agreed the results were expected. 'We've known for some time that in terms of contributions those will be relatively well received. Obviously it's a bit tougher if the government contribution is being halved or in some cases removed that's not going to be particularly popular, the key thing is the government continues to contribute something.' He said there should be a bipartisan agreement about a long-term strategy for retirement income. He said it was also worth discussing other steps the government could take, such as adjusting the tax settings. 'Other changes the government might be able to make to the tax system in the future to continue to incentivise particularly savings and even up the playing field between savings and investment and housing. That's some fundamental shifts in the tax system.' More incentives needed Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive at Pie Funds, said it was good to see that most people supported the contribution increase. 'In terms of the halving of the government contributions we need to acknowledge the government faced some hard choices as a result of the tight fiscal environment. But I believe we should be offering more incentives for Kiwis to save for their retirement, not fewer. 'Reducing the government contribution is more likely to impact the retirement balances of lower income earners – a group who deserve the same opportunities as everyone else.' She said even a reduced contribution of $261 a year could grow to more than $40,000 over a person's working life. 'I think what's more important than the dollar amount of the government contribution is the number of Kiwis who don't receive it, either because they're not eligible or they're not contributing enough. 'While it's a good thing that the government contributions are now available for 16- and 17-year-olds, I think the government missed a trick by not extending it to the increasing number of over-65s who are still working, whether by choice or necessity. 'What's probably more concerning is the thousands of KiwiSavers missing out on the MTC government contribution each year because they're not contributing enough to qualify, leaving millions of dollars on the table. 'So the poll is actually a timely reminder for people to ensure they've contributed at least $1043 by 30 June in order to receive the full government contribution of $521 – before it reduces to $261 next year.' A spokesperson for Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the changes to KiwiSaver were designed to help Kiwis to save more and make the scheme more fiscally sustainable. 'For example, an 18-year-old earning the minimum wage of just under $49,000 a year who invests in a balanced fund can expect to have almost $910,000 in KiwiSaver at age 65. Under the old settings it would have been about $732,000. 'The results are similar for most other people. The Retirement Commissioner estimates the changes will increase retirement savings for about 80 percent of KiwiSaver members.'
