Susan St John: Auckland University Associate Professor of Economics on Labour ruling out changes to retirement age

Best of Business · Jun 23, 2026 · 4m · transcript

A social policy advocate suggests taxing superannuants' alternative incomes could be the solution New Zealand needs.

National is campaigning on raising the retirement age, which Labour's ruling out.

But earlier this year, Labour's Chris Hipkins appeared open to means testing NZ Super eligibility.

Auckland University's Susan St John says reviving the superannuation surcharge, abolished in 1998, could get political agreement.

She explained it is a middle ground between the extremes of means testing and raising the age of eligibility.

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