1898: Old-age Pensions

October 31, 2019

By AHNZ

Today in New Zealand history, 1 November 1898, our expansionist State got its hooks on our oldest citizens by passing the Old-age Pensions Act into law. The State was setting itself up as the keeper of people in need- muscling in on the territory of family and church….

“WHEREAS it is equitable that deserving persons who during the prime of life have helped to bear the public burdens of the colony by the payment of taxes, and to open up its resources by their labour and skill, should receive from the colony a pension in their old age,” quoth the Act.

In these early days the payment was modest and means tested, yet it was a foot in the door for our elders to become confederates of the State. They would become dependent on the expansion and perpetuity of Government in our lives rather than on family and community.

“In this year, writes H.B.Sutch, To get six shillings and eleven pence a week at 65, a person had to have lived in Nz for 25ys, and led a sober and reputable life for the preceding five years and not deserted the spouse or children at any time, and not been in jail, have a yearly income of less than thirty-four points, in which free board and loging was valued at twenty-six pounds and a house and furniture had to be valued at less than three hundred pounds.”- McLauchlan

The Old Age Register was kept open for inspection to the public so one’s creaky old life was laid bare in exchange for some shillings and pence. I assume this also opened up an ugly market for gossip and crabbing and dobbing people in; New Zealanders watching how others’ spent their money with jealous and judgement eyes. Suddenly an elder person’s business could be everyone’s business. Yuck.

“New Zealand’s was the first in the world funded from general taxation. It was one of the major achievements of Richard Seddon’s Liberal government.”- Nzhistory.govt

You know you’re getting your history from The Government when they call the expansion of state power over families a “major achievement!”🤣

In these tough times one of the criteria was that the pensioner had to have lived here for 25 years. Contrast that with today where such a limit is considered something of a radical fringe idea…

“New Zealand could be a step closer to increasing the minimum residency required to get New Zealand Superannuation after a bill proposing an increase from 10 to 20 years was drawn from the parliamentary ballot.”- Bill proposes 20 years residency to get NZ Super; Nzherald.co.nz

The first recipients, “persons who during the prime of life have helped to bear the public burdens of the colony” would have had to be born in 1833 or earlier. Even at the time, 1898, living beyond 65 was above average. How much lower must life expectancy have been for those born in 1833!?

And that’s before the other requirements such as sobriety, poverty, and decency towards one’s wife and children. So, a typical short-sighted Liberal Party popularity move in the moment that would grow like a cancer over time. New Zealanders now incur huge taxes to pay huge sums to a society top-heavy with an elderly population.

The positioning of The State as caregiver has only grown since being instituted by late Seddon Slave Culture (c.1893-1899.) Savage Slave Culture (.1937-1942) explicitly stated its policy platform as looking after New Zealanders “from the cradle to the grave.” Muldoonist Slave Culture (c1975-1980) gave the Boomer generation unprecedented largesse at taxpayer expense, even though it meant putting family units into poverty to do it. To the Boomer, a ‘nest egg’ was food for those who laid it and never something to help the next generation be nurtured so it could rise. Instead of passing the torch from father to son, the Boomer passed the torch from their own right hand to their own left hand! Only The State makes it possible.

Were it not for the unsustainable old-age pensions and the monster it has grown into what would our society be like? We would be voluntarist and care for our old people ourselves, as mankind has done since antiquity. We would have grandmothers and grandfathers again. Old people would not be subsidised to be jerks, they would instead have an incentive to help and support future generations.

What New Zealand needs is to get its elders back; We need to undo the Old Age Pensions Act and everything that hatched out from it.

—

Ref. Life expectancy NZ; sciblogs.co.nz

Ref. Passionless People Revisited; McLauchlan (2012)

Image ref. One of the first ‘pensioners’; Auckland Weekly News; Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections

Image ref. Boomers in retirement; Unsplash; Stuff.co.nz; AHNZ FB

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