On their final day, MPs consider quality of our final years

The theatrics and comic relief of the adjournment debate attracted most of the attention on Parliament's final sitting day of the year, but the House also turned its attention to an issue with the potential to surge in prominence: the quality of life for ageing New Zealanders.

Former American Vice President Hubert Humphrey once said that "the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

In 2028, New Zealand is set to have one million people over the age of 65, while the ratio of working-aged to retired New Zealanders continues to decline. The implications of an ageing population have been simmering in New Zealand's political consciousness for a while.

Against that backdrop, Parliament set aside an hour on its final sitting day for a frank discussion on the quality of life for older New Zealanders, prompted in part by the most recent report from the Retirement Commission.

Opening the debate was Health Committee chair and National's Tauranga MP, Sam Uffindell, coincidentally representing one of the country's retirement hotspots. He focused largely on the government's plans and the pressures that come with an aging population.

"The implications for the State are considerable. With advances in healthcare and nutrition, people are living longer, and we are also seeing more New Zealanders living with dementia, placing increasingly complex demands on the aged-care system."

As is common in special debates, Uffindell ended with an appeal for bipartisan cooperation. That olive branch was not immediately reciprocated from the first two Labour MPs to speak in the debate.

A split call from Ingrid Leary and Ayesha Verrall made it clear where Labour placed responsibility for the quality of life pressure facing older New Zealanders.

"Food costs more, power bills keep rising, transport is less affordable, healthcare is harder to access, and rates are going through the roof," Leary said. "These are not inconveniences; they are barriers to independence".

Verrall then turned it up a notch, veering into election-year rhetoric before being asked by the Speaker to return to the topic.

"This is what happens when a weak Government panders to Big Tobacco rather than the people who need care." She argued that it had become more expensive and difficult to access healthcare and outlined Labour's proposal for a Medicare-style card providing three free GP visits per year, framing the next election as "make or break" for the health system.

Issues such as superannuation, senior poverty, and the retirement age are widely acknowledged as important, yet they often struggle to rise to the top of the political consciousness, displaced by more immediate concerns. Overseas experience has also shown that proposals to lift the retirement age are politically risky.

While the opening speakers blended political positioning with broader commentary, Green Party spokesperson Lawrence Xu-Nan focused pretty squarely on the data.

"By 2050," he said, "the number of New Zealanders over 65 will increase by 50 percent. We're currently sitting at roughly 900,000 people over the age of 65. The number of people who are over the age of 85 will also drastically increase. According to the Retirement Commissioner's report, 44 percent of older people feel financially exposed in their daily lives, and 16.8 percent live in poverty, higher than the OECD average."

Although no party can rely on automatic support from any demographic, political reputations endure. Just as Labour is often associated with teachers, National with farmers, and the Greens with students, New Zealand First has long positioned itself as an advocate for older New Zealanders.

Minister for Seniors, Casey Costello leaned into that identity as she spoke, highlighting her party's record and looking ahead to an election year.

Protecting the age of superannuation, she said, was a bottom-line position for New Zealand First and enshrined in the coalition agreement.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngawera-Packer continues the trend of calling for non-partisan collective responsibility. Her remarks drew agreement from National's Hamish Campbell.

Whether that shared desire translates into genuine cross-party collaboration in the new year remains to be seen. But as New Zealand's population continues to age, the issue will become increasingly difficult for MPs to prevaricate on.

Note: In fact, Parliament's final day for 2025 featured two special debates: this one, and another that focused on local issues. Special debates have been a set piece of the House's schedule since a 2020 Standing Orders change, which now requires seven hours of special debates each year. Topics are usually nominated by individual MPs or select committees, with the aim of shining a spotlight on issues that may not receive sustained attention through legislation, question time, or other parliamentary mechanisms.

In 2025, special debates covered topics including banking competition, energy, and long-term structural issues. Because topics are agreed by the Business Committee, these debates tend to be less contentious than question time or urgent debates. Perhaps for that reason and likely because of a heavy legislative workload this year, they aren't exactly treated as a priority.

As a result, five of the seven required debates took place in the final six sitting weeks of the year, culminating in the two held at the eleventh hour on Parliament's final day.

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