The cost of living (and dying) as New Zealand ages up

We’re currently preoccupied with the present day cost of living but a series of new reports from the Retirement Commission bring the future into much closer view

Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, November 30, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: Te Whatu Ora seeks guardianship of baby whose parents will not allow blood from people vaccinated against Covid to be used in surgery; prime minister Jacinda Ardern to meet with Finnish prime minister this morning; US court orders immediate ban on New Zealand exports of several species of fish; but first, Retirement Commission reports paint a future picture of inequity and more renting retirees

Lifting the retirement age would disadvantage women, Māori and Pacific peoples (Image: Getty)

40% of retirees paying rent by 2048

Last week I recommended Charlie Mitchell’s excellent feature on New Zealand, the hyperaging nation (here if you missed it). I said I think we constantly kick this can down the road far too often. New reports released from the Retirement Commission this week paint a future of vast inequity and a doubling of the number of renting retirees. Bernard Hickey breaks down the commission’s forecasts of the rates of homeownership in retirement and assesses the future fitness of a superannuation scheme designed at a time when 87% of people in their 60s were homeowners with their mortgages paid off. The balance of home ownership is expected to shift to 60% homeowners and 40% paying rent by 2048, according to the commission. 

Māori, Pasifika, and women have disproportionately lower savings

The focus of this latest review from the commission was Māori, Pasifika and women because they have disproportionately lower savings.  Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson confirmed that women, on average, have 20% less in their Kiwisaver than men "at all age groups, from the under-17s through to the people that are over 65”. In a beautifully recounted story by Stuff’s Ripu Bhatia, kaumātua Hemi Pene talks about saving for his own funeral because he worries about burdening his family. He is doing so out of his superannuation payments and what remains of his Kiwisaver. Pene, a former te reo Māori teacher at schools around Tāmaki Makaurau, is spending his retirement sharing his cultural knowledge with the community. “I like to get out there and do things for people,” he said.

National stands by policy of lifting retirement age to 67

I covered the recommendation from the commission that the retirement age remain at 65 yesterday, based on the disadvantage women, Māori and Pacific peoples would find themselves at if it was increased. Opposition leader Christopher Luxon is standing by the National party’s policy of lifting the superannuation age to 67 despite the findings. The report found that while Māori and Pacific peoples are expected to become a larger proportion of the working-age population over the next two decades, they will remain a "small proportion" of those who eventually get superannuation due to shorter life expectancies. 

Taranaki man stages protest about cost of death

As the cost of living rises, so too does the cost of death. The costs of burial plots across 17 local authorities has gone up by 9% in two years. Caskets are not immune from inflation. Last Thursday, Taranaki man Dave Devenport sat outside the New Plymouth Public Trust office with a portrait of a woman, and a skeleton in a wheelchair. The woman in the photo is his wife who died in 2018 and Devenport was there staging a protest about the cost of death. According to Devenport, the cost to wind up his wife’s estate with the Public Trust office was $9,500, which he thinks is outrageous. It’s an odd subject matter to be commending Devenport, reporter Elijah Hill and photographer Andy MacDonald on, but it's a pretty striking way to illustrate a point. 

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Te Whatu Ora headed to court over baby requiring heart surgery

The Herald is reporting that Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand is heading to court to seek guardianship of a baby in need of heart surgery. The child’s parents are refusing to allow blood from people vaccinated against Covid to be used in the operation. Court records show documents were filed with the Auckland High Court on Monday and Te Whatu Ora is listed as the applicant for proceedings set down for today. Professor Nikki Turner of Auckland University’s Immunisation Advisory Centre said Covid was widespread in New Zealand and that would be reflected in the nation’s blood. “Almost all blood in New Zealand will have Covid antibodies in them so unless you’re going to refuse all blood, I can’t imagine how you’ll get round this,” she said.

Prime minister to meet Finnish prime minister this morning

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern will meet the prime minister of Finland, Sanna Marin this morning. Marin was recently cleared of all misconduct after footage of her dancing (as people are inclined to do from time to time) was leaked. It’s the first time a prime minister from Finland has visited here. In the year ending December 2021, we imported far more from Finland than we exported to them ($186.06m versus $16.15m). It’s hoped the free trade agreement with the European Union will unlock more opportunity.  Marin is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and leads a cabinet comprised of members from five different parties. Finland is currently seeking membership of NATO. US president Joe Biden just approved a $323m arms sale to the country as it looks to develop and maintain its self-defence capability as neighbouring Russia continues its war against Ukraine. 

US court orders immediate ban on New Zealand exports of several species of fish

The injunction was handed down by the United States Court of International Trade and applies to nine species from two fisheries off the west coast of the North Island including snapper, tarakihi and spotted dogfish. The non-profit marine wildlife conservation organisation Sea Shepherd New Zealand filed legal proceedings in an effort to protect the critically endangered Māui dolphin habitats, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. There are only around 50 Māui dolphins left. The ban could cost up to $2m a year but it’s likely the US will require a traceability programme. If New Zealand can't tell the world where fish are caught that could cost $200m worth of exports.

Click and collect

• Voter fatigue in Hamilton West byelection. Advance voting opened yesterday and votes cast so far are about half of what they were for the first day of advance voting in the Tauranga byelection

• China attempts to accelerate vaccination rates among over 80s, sends university students home in attempt to dampen down protests

• Civil liberties groups say New Zealand’s latest open government plan contains proposals “so weak as to be a joke”

• ANZ first bank to move on lifting interest rates

• 1.8m New Zealand phone numbers potentially exposed in WhatsApp data scrape

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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