Friend, did you hear our latest
announcements?
Today, New Zealand First Leader Rt
Hon Winston Peters announced two new campaign policies at a public
meeting in West Auckland, leading up to the 2026 Election.
The KiwiSaver Generation
New Zealand First is going to make KiwiSaver
enrolment compulsory at birth and there will be an automatic
immediate Crown contribution of $1000 for New Zealand citizens
only.
This is a once-per-lifetime investment that compounds for decades,
the start of a nest egg for what we will call the “KiwiSaver
Generation”.
Universal birth enrolment will ensure every child begins their
financial life as a KiwiSaver member, with a meaningful balance
already growing on their behalf.
Alongside our previous policy announcement of compulsory KiwiSaver
enrolment for the wider workforce and increased employee and employer
contributions, New Zealand First is the only party that is looking to
the future, protecting our country and our people, and putting our
interests first.
Establishing membership from day one and normalising savings as a
lifelong habit ensures that no New Zealander enters adulthood without
a savings foundation already in place.
It is just plain common sense.
Buying Back BNZ
We also announced that New Zealand First is proposing a buy-back
of the Bank of New Zealand from National Australia Bank.
It will be merged with Kiwibank to form the “National Bank of New
Zealand (NBNZ)” – a fully Crown owned, commercially run, systemically
significant domestic bank with the scale to genuinely compete with
ANZ, ASB and Westpac.
Established in 2002, Kiwibank is the only domestically owned bank
of any scale, but remains a marginal player after two decades.
Successive governments have starved it of the capital it would need to
be a genuine system-shaping competitor.
The “National Bank of New Zealand” would exist as a fully
commercial bank with a Crown shareholder, and keep the major
Australian banks honest while keeping New Zealand banking profits in
New Zealand.
New Zealand built BNZ. Labour and National sold it. Now we are
going to buy it back.
Every dollar of profit it makes will stay in this country, working
for New Zealanders.
That is what economic sovereignty looks like.
That is what real conservatism looks like.
That is what real Nationalism looks like.
We have already announced policies on reforming the energy
sector and breaking up the supermarket duopolies. Now we have
announced that we will create real competition in our foreign owned
banking system, and we will look after the financial future of Kiwi
kids by creating a "KiwiSaver Generation".
And there is much more to come.
Make sure you hear Winston’s full speech HERE,
or can you read it online HERE.
Or read more detail about our policy announcements HERE.
