Labour being tricky again

Labour have announced they will extend the Veterans’ Pension to all veterans, rather than just those who were injured or impaired. They have an entire page devoted to their policy, and like me, you probably concluded that this means retired veterans will get a higher pension than they currently do.

But no, it is Labour being tricky again. You see the level of NZ Superannuation and the level of the Veteran’s Pension is identical. There are some differences around abatements if in long-term hospital care, but the level of the core benefit is the same.

@mizjwilliams absolutely. My point is mostly about releasing a policy and avoiding mentioning a detail like weekly pay, which Labour knows.

— Graeme Edgeler (@GraemeEdgeler) April 26, 2014

I was alerted to this by Graeme Edgeler on Twitter. He makes the point that Labour deliberately chose to not include in its materials the fact that the level of the pension is the same. Once again, they’re being tricky. There are benefits to being able to get the Veteran’s Pension – but Labour have tried to con people into thinking they include a higher level of benefit.

Edgeler makes the point that sure you might not expect the advertising to mention this salient detail – but you would expect it to be mentioned in the full policy.