Pitched as "economic fairness" and as putting value back into being a New Zealand citizen, NZ First would make citizenship a condition of receiving NZ Super.

📋 NZ First: NZ Super for Citizens Only, September 2026 →

What it does

• Makes only New Zealand citizens eligible for NZ Superannuation from 2029, after a grace period of about three years.
• Ends eligibility for permanent residents and residence-class visa holders. Under current rules they can qualify at 65 if they have lived in New Zealand for a minimum period after age 20, including at least five years since turning 50, 1News reported.
• Responds to what NZ First says is a bill of more than $1 billion a year for superannuitants who became resident aged 50 or older, a cost it says has more than doubled in 10 years.
• Was announced by Winston Peters at a public meeting in Hamilton on 6 September 2026. The next day he told TVNZ's Breakfast the party did not know how many people would be affected or how much would be saved, saying "the figure is up to a billion dollars of cost", and suggested citizenship could also become a requirement for benefits such as Jobseeker.

The debate

• Peters said people who had worked and paid tax in New Zealand for decades deserved to be looked after, and that taxpayers should no longer be used as "a bottomless pit by some migrants".
• Kelly Feng, chief executive of Asian Family Services, described the policy as unfair and inhumane, and Asian Network Incorporated chief executive Vishal Rishi said migrants who had contributed for decades were now being viewed as burdens, RNZ reported.
• University of Auckland economist Susan St John said the existing residence rules were already "quite stringent" and that affordability could be addressed by changing how NZ Super is taxed or by reducing support for wealthier recipients, rather than by a citizenship test.
• National's Nicola Willis argued that people pushed off NZ Super could shift onto the Jobseeker benefit, a view Peters rejected, 1News reported.