ACT Fiscal Plan: Retirement Age Rise and $653m Disability Benefit Cut
ACT would raise the retirement age and cut $653 million from disability benefits over four years under its fiscal plan, launched at a photography studio on Auckland's Karangahape Road. The plan, titled 'Cut the Waste, Grow the Country', sets out how the party would lower debt and pay for its promises if it is part of the next government. RNZ
ACT says the document is fully costed, meaning every promise has a price tag attached. It says the plan would cut waste, grow the economy and balance the books, with no new taxes. Debt would be $12.4 billion lower under the plan, according to the party. ACT
There are no broad income tax cuts. The party proposes small and targeted tax cuts instead. Criticism came swiftly.
On spending, the Fiscal Plan 2026 proposes scrapping KiwiSaver subsidies, the government top-up paid into retirement savings, and limiting benefit access for new immigrants. It includes a measure described as bringing disability benefits under control. ACT
Leader David Seymour said the blowout in spending during Covid has not been fixed. He said ACT would require sign-off from an independent doctor against clear criteria for health and disability benefits. The party has not given detail on the eligibility change beyond the $653 million saving over four years.
Its coalition partner pushed back. National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said she had delivered fiscal repair despite difficult global conditions. She said National's reprioritisation of spending, shifting money from lower to higher priorities, saved about $12 billion a year on average. She said that repair was done while funding ACT policies including the Ministry for Regulation, a charter schools agency and housing funding for councils.
Opposition parties attacked the disability proposal directly. The Green Party labelled the plan as "welfare for the wealthiest" and accused ACT of "starving everyone" in its settings. Labour finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds used the proposed cuts to attack National, linking National to its support partner's settings. NZ Herald
The broader context here is coalition politics under MMP, not just the numbers. It is normal for a support party to publish its own costed plan, with its own debt path and welfare rules. It lets ACT speak to its supporters while National defends the Budget record.
Looking at what this means for talks after the election, the friction points are clear. Retirement age, KiwiSaver subsidies, benefit eligibility for migrants and medical certification for disability support all turn on detailed policy design. Voters will look at the debt and savings figures. Negotiators will look at the conditions. Willis named regulation, charter schools and council housing funding for a reason. She was signalling that ACT has already secured spending inside a tight Budget.
In my view, the test for this document is not whether the sums add up on paper. Finance spokespeople often work from different baselines. The test is whether savings come from steps ministers can direct, or from eligibility changes that take time and can face legal challenge. Disability support sits in the second group, which is why it drew fire on day one.
