National will change kiwisaver to help you kickstart for retirement

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National Party Coms
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The compulsory KiwiSaver, "Baby Boost" policy, announced by Christopher Luxon at National's June 2026 party conference in Lower Hutt, would automatically enrol every baby born in New Zealand into KiwiSaver at birth with a $1500 government contribution from July 2027, and require everyone in work to contribute (or belong to an equivalent scheme) from mid-2028, with default contribution rates rising 0.5% a year until employee and employer both reach 6% in 2032.

It offers no additional help for those with pre-existing KiwiSaver accounts, since it relies on increasing worker contributions on top of existing employer contributions.

The $1500 birth-start is almost identical to NZ First's existing policy, just with a larger starting value.

National itself;

  • removed the $1000 government starter contribution in 2015
  • halved the annual government matching contribution from $1-for-$1 to 50 cents in 2011
  • cut it again to 25 cents in 2025 while closing off matching eligibility for incomes over $180k