Latest news

May 2023

St John, S and O’Brien M (2023) Modelling income adequacy for those on benefits   Report based on a welfare model developed for CPAG by Dr Yun So, Economics Policy Centre.

April 2023

St John, S.( 2023) Lets have some straight talking on tax   Interest.co.nz.  25^th April , 2023

St John, S. ( 2023) A prayer to the god of small things, Daily Blog 24^th April 2023

March 2023

St John, S (2023) Let them eat cake   Daily Blog 23rd March

February 2023

St John, S. (2023) What comes next Labour? Time for transformational change- PLEASE Lets just do it this time.  Daily Blog 10^th February 2023

St John, S (2023) We need to talk about the New Zealand Super Fund, Daily Blog 1st February

January 2023

St John.S ( 2023) Flying blind into the recession  Daily Blog 27^th January

St John,S (2023) Serious deficiencies in the social policy processes  Daily Blog 7^th January

December 2022

St John, S (2022)  Basic Income for the old and the young in New Zealand. PIE Briefing 2022-2:

Christmas Wishes For a More Generous New Year   CPAG Press release, 22^nd Dec,

November 2022

• St John, S No excuses for hungry children,   NZ Herald, 29^th November
• St John, S. Monetary policy, inflated house prices and lack of tax made it worse, Radio NZ interview 11^th November

October 2022

• St John, S (2022) Child Poverty in NZ- what is the truth here? Daily Blog 10^th October

September 2022

• St John, S (2022) Is KiwiSaver fit for the 2050? panel discussion, FSC conference, 23rd September  Cordis hotel Auckland
• St John, S & Baucher S. ( 2022) PIE Policy Report 2022-2: Fair Economic Return Revisited. Presented at the housing affordability conference, EPC 9^th Sept Auckland Business School, power point presentation,  ppts FER 9th sept

August 2022

• St John, S. (2022) If we want a fair system lets fix our low rate broad-base system    Newsroom August 30^th 2022
• St John, S. (2022) Poverty is not a partisan issue, Newsroom,5th August 2022

July 2022

•  St John, S. ( 2022)   Social security purposes and principles are cold comfort for too many NZ Herald 25^th July 2022
• St John, S ( 2022) Here is what must happen in child poverty before the end of this year Daily Blog 21^st July
• St John, S quoted in Carmel Sepuloni receives review into Working for Families, but some worried focus is not on poverty – NZ Herald 28^th July

June 2022

• St John, S (2022)  The only trade-off that matters.  Newsroom,15^th June.

May 2022

• St John, S (2022) Policy Report – The Irish Autoenrolment 
  RPRC PR 2022-1 in AE-Ireland by TOR Financial Consulting Ltd. It draws on the New Zealand experience with KiwiSaver and its relevance for women.
• St John, S. ( 2022) Improving the Child Poverty Reduction Framework 23rd May) CPAG commentary.
• St John, S (2022) The budget will not feed hungry children Daily Blog 23^rd May 2022
• St John, S (2022)  Little hint of meaningful action Spinoff budget round table, 19^th May
• St John, S (2022)  interviewed by Susan Edmunds  Working for Families needs to do better.What do you want to see in the Budget this year? | Stuff.co.nz 15th May

April 2022

• St John, S. (2022) interviewed by Isaac Davison NZ Herald on Marginal tax rates 22^nd April
• St John,S (2022)  interviewed by Susan Edmunds  Marginal tax rates  4th April

March 2022

• St John, S (2022) Children shouldn’t  pay for a broken system
  Newsroom 24th March 2022
• St John, S (2022) International Women’s Day, New Zealand is still a long way from gender equality, Newsroom,  8^th March 2022
• St John, S (2022) The Purpose and Principles of the Social Security Act, The Daily Blog, 2nd March 2022

February 2022

• Dale, M, St John S (2022) Long term in-home and residential care for New Zealand’s ageing population Long term aged care for New Zealand’s ageing population RPRC PensionBriefing 2022-1, 23 February
• Asher I, St John, S. & G Craw, CPAG Submission: On the Accident Compensation (Maternal Birth Injury and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (Jan 2022) as a PDF (Word Doc), 11th February, 2022
• St John, S (2022) Social insurance , Newsroom, 7th Feb 2022
• Job benefit plan misses mark Waatea News, 10th February, 2022. Concerns new income insurance plans could drive inequality, Radio New Zealand Audio. 2nd February 2021

January 2022

• St John, S (2022) Tackling the Big Issues in 2022? Yeah Right! | The Daily Blog  17th January, 2022
• St John, S ( 2022) Our accidental ACC scheme, New Zealand Herald dialogue page 12^th January 2022

Latest news 2021

December

• St John, S (2021) Time to rock the KiwiSaver boat  27^th Dec interest.co.nz

November

• St John, S (2021) What could possibly go wrong next? Daily Blog, 27th November 2021
• St John , S  & Neuwelt, C (2021) Australia and NZ tax credits for children. A 5-year comparison: July 2018- July 2023 – Part 2 of the Rethinking Income Support for Children series CPAG backgrounder, 18th November 2021.
• St John, S ( 2021) Let them eat cake  Daily Blog 15^th November 2021
• St John, S ( 2021) Urgent reform of Working for Families needed – not tinkering  8th November 2021

October

• St John, S ( 2021) Interview with Waatea Radio on Working for Families policy changes , interview here, 22nd October 2021
• St John, S ( 2021) Mercer’s pensions index,The Panel with Andrew Hoggard and Mihingarangi Forbes (Part 2) From Radio New Zealand Audio
• St John, S (2021). Time for bold action for children,New Zealand Herald, 21st October 2021

  September

• St John, S(2021) Working for families isn’t working for poor families Daily Blog 20^th September
• St John, S (2021)  Is appeal to self-interest the answer?  St John, (2021) Daily Blog 13th September 2021. Chris Trotter reply:Not Understood: Chris Trotter Replies To Susan St John
• Taxing pensioners’ other income at higher rate ‘could be better way to make super affordable’  Susan Edmunds, Stuff 2^nd September
• St John, S ( 2021) What a disgusting state of affairs | The Daily Blog   2^nd September, 2021. Chris Trotter reply:Staying focussed, Why Labour still wont help the poor 

August

• St John, S ( 2021) New Zealand Superannuation Fund  PensionCommentary 2021-2  RPRC, 30^th August 2021
• St John, S ( 2021) New Zealand Superannuation as a basic  income  PensionBriefing 2021-2  RPRC, 27^th August 2021
• St John,S (2021) Will the New Zealand Super Fund help pay the costs of the babyboom retirement? interest.co.nz 16^th August, 2021
• St John, S (2021)  Pressure points in our polices facing up to the ageing population University of Auckland  Alumni series Shaping  our Futures 10^th August 2021 RPRC event summary

July

• St John, S ( 2021) Housing is Labour’s Achilles’ Heel, interest.co.nz, 30^th July, 2021

June

• Susan St John and Terry Baucher, The Fair Economic Return: Restoring equity to the social fabric of New Zealand. RPRC working paper 2021-1 30^th June.
• NZH, Susan St John: ‘Running a gender equity lens over social policies, childbirth, women’s work’, 27 June, 2021
• Susan  St John, S (2021)  ACC papers on Women Maori Pacifica and disabled, Radio NZ, Waitea News, 22^nd  June, 2021

May

• Susan St John. S (2021) Commentary on the 2021 budget   The SpinOff, 20^th May 2021
• St John, S (2021) Running a gender lens over our sacred social policies Daily Blog, 13th May 2021
• St John, S (2021) Interview with Bernard Hickey on financial priorities Lower debt in, cutting child poverty out: podcast 7^th May, 2021
• Neuwellt, C , St John , S (2021)  Rethinking Income Support for Children Part 1: Ensuring Adequate Indexation of Working for Families,   CPAG backgrounder, 4^th May 2021

April

• Susan St John and Terry Baucher (2021) The housing crisis, taxation policy: restoring equity to the social fabric of New Zealand Wednesday, Auckland University of Technology, 28th April  2021.
• St John, S (2021) Oral submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee: The Budget Policy Statement We are facing a pandemic of poverty that has been intensified by COVID | The Daily Blog Daily Blog 3rd April 2021

March

• St John, S (2021) Submission to the Pensions Commission Ireland on reform of the state pension, RPRC, submissions, March 2021 Irish submission 9th March RPRC NZ final.pdf (auckland.ac.nz)
• St John, S (2021)  IRD, Treasury and MSD – Does the tail wag the dog? Daily Blog, 12^th March 2021
• St John, S  (2021)  International women’s day? How are the worst off mothers and their kids doing?  Daily Blog: 5^th March 2021

February

• St John, S ( 2021) Time to use the Tax hose on the housing market, NZ herald 24^th February, 2021

January

• St John, S ( 2021) Any economic fix starts with fixing inequality (paywalled) and audio link here, National Business Review, 7th January 2021, PDF here

December

• St John, S (2020)  Would Total Remuneration improve KiwiSaver fairness? RPRC PensionBriefing 2020-1
• St John, S (2020) Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most Published at Interest.co.nz. 26th December 2020
• St John, S (2020) Susan St John looks into the ‘housing elephant rampaging across New Zealand society’ and assesses potential solutions, Published at Interest.co.nz. 7th December 2020

November

• St John, S ( 2020)  30 years of neoliberalism has failed the poor – so why is Labour continuing it? Daily Blog 23rd November
• St John,S. (2020) Bridging the poverty gap: Why all poor kids need Working For Families support, Spinoff, 18th November 2020
• St John,S. ( 2020) Some fairness for short-changed pensioners – but it was a farcical process to get there, Business Stuff, 10th November.
• St John, S (2020) The bureaucratic blocks to welfare reform, Newsroom 5th November
• St John, S quoted in Jacinda Ardern must use her mandate to tackle child poverty in New Zealand The Guardian, 5th November 2020
• RNZ interview, The Detail on Rethinking ACC in the 21st century  (Andrew Dickson, Sir Geoff Palmer, Susan St John, November 2,2020) and the RNZ article Time for a Royal Commission into Accident Compensation  , 2nd November, 2020

October

• St John, S (2020) A gender lens: Pensions Policies New Zealand, Ireland and Australia  IAPF (Irish pensions Savers) conference, online Ireland 19th October.
• St John quoted in Rob Stock, Stuff  Gender blind KiwiSaver needs to become fairer to women.  Stuff 18th October
• Dale and St John (2020) presenting Retirement issues for women in a post-covid world,  Insurance Ireland, zoom conference, 7he October
• St John, S (2020)., Time to Act is now : taxation of housing as an increase to the income tax base  Daily Blog, 19th October
• St John S quoted in Report card: Jacinda Ardern’s government graded on the past three years The Guardian 12th October 2020
• Panel discussion chaired by Jack Tame:  Rob Everett (Chief Executive, Financial Markets Authority), Jane Wrightson (Retirement Commissioner, Commission for Financial Capability), Susan St John (Director, University of Auckland, Retirement Policy and Research Centre), Will Burkitt (Mercer, Retirement Innovation Leader). Financial Services Council annual conference panel discussion:  Is retirement dead?
• Dig Social policy discussion panel, chaired by Jeremy Rose.  Benefits panel   Susan St John , Serenah Nicholson and Donna Maria Lawson, 7th October.

September

• Dale, MC and St John, s ( 2020) Women and Retirement in a post COVID-19 world   Report  prepared for TOR consulting, September 2020
• St John ,S ( 2020) What no benefit increases?  Daily Blog 29th September 2020
• St John and Dale ( 2020) RPRC Select Committee Submission on the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income (Fair Residency) Amendment Bill, September 22st 2020
• St John, S. ( 2020) Reflections on the Woodhouse Legacy for the 21st Century, 51/2 VUWLR p 293-312

August

• St John, S. ( 2020) Vote ACT for a shattered economy  Daily Blog, 3rd August, 2020 July

July

• St John, S (2020) Economics Solutions. Alternative Aotearoa Piptea Marae Wellington , 25th July 2020 Video link here and edited transcript here
• St John, S ( 2020)  An analysis of Act policies , Daily Blog 14th July
• Interview On the Panel with Wallace Chapman,  Radio NZ – National, Wellington , 13th July ​
• St John, S ( 2020)  Please save  KiwiSaver  from the axe  Daily Blog 2nd July
  St John, S ( 2020) When will Labour get it right for the worst-off children?​ 1st July

June

• Neuwled-kearns, C and St John S, 2020 Family tax credits: Do children get the support in New Zealand that they would get in Australia? CPAG backgrounder June 2020.
• St John, S and Dale C ( 2020)  Don’t drop the ball on this one Jacinda Newsroom 5th June 2020​

May

• St John, S ( 2020)  Child Poverty was once at the heart of this government, Daily Blog 18th May
• 2020 CPAG budget analysis with Bryan Bruce : and the Q&A is available here: 15th May 2020​
• St John, S and C M Dale ( 2020) Why this budget matters for intergenerational  fairness  Newsroom,  14th May 2020
• St John, S ( 2020) The welfare system is dangerous to our COVID-19 future, Daily Blog 14th May​
• St John, S and J Letif, (2020)  Pre budget chat with CPAG,  published facebook 8th May 2020

April

• St John, S ( 2020), Newsroom, Time to change this abhorrently wasteful policy 23rd  April
• St John, S ( 2020) Universal basic income: be careful what you wish for, Newsroom, 15th  April
• St John, S ( 2020) Let’s get the policies right this time  Newsroom, 2 April, 2020

March

• St John, S ( 2020) Covid-19: A Catch-22 for our most vulnerable  Newsroom, 30th March
• St John, S ( 2020)  ‘Time to rethink everything especially super policy’. The DailyBlog, 23 March 2020
• St John, S ( 2020)  ‘Covid-19 economic rescue package: The experts weigh in’. The Spinoff, 17 March 2020,

February

• Dale, MC & St John, S (2020)  The Kiwis falling through the KiwiSaver cracks Newsroom 28 February
• St John, S ( 2020) The New Zealand Super Fund’s magical thinking Newsroom Pro 28th February 020
• St John, S  A briefing on the  reform of the in Work Tax Credit, Child Poverty Action Group, 19th February  2020
• St John, S and Dale ,M (2020)　A close look at the superannuation problem Newsroom 19th February
• St John, S (2020) Petty, intrusive, destructive and just plain wrong,   Daily Blog, 13th February 2020
• St John et al (2020)  Budget Policy Statement CPAG Oral submission to the Finance Expenditure Select committee, 7th February
• St John reported in Stuff, 2nd Feb,   How employers are freezing the over 50s out of the job market and New Zealand’s pension is one of the world’s most generous – will you be getting it at 65?

January

• St John, S Radio New Zealand,  Radio NZ Checkpoint  also  Newsroom The Retirement Income review Future retirees face more financial hardship, research suggests 29th January
• St John in New Zealand Herald |Kathryn’s case was meant to change the system  23rd January
• St John, S  Expose Working for Families myths   Newsroom, 23rd January, 2020
• ST John  S  Non Qualifying spouse interview Susan Edmunds   Stuff 20th Jan
• St John S reported in Where the Government should spend the pot of gold, Stuff, 19th January, 2020
•  St John, S. CPAG joins call from budget advisors for Govt to increase benefits urgently Press Release 9th January 2020​

December

• St John, S and Cotterell, G (2019) National’s family incomes support policy:  A new paradigm shift or more of the same? Themed issue: National’s social policy legacy. N e w Z e a l a n d  S o c i o l o g y 3 4 ( 2 ).  ​
• St John, S ( 2019) The interment of the WEAG report is complete Daily Blog, 24th December 2019
• t John, S ( 2019) Pension for children is no panacea,  Newsroom, 20th December, 2019
• St John, S (2019)  Universality and a pension for children Radio NZ, 18th December Jesse Muligan show,
• St John, J (2019) oral submission to the Social Services and Community select committee, Modernisation and simplification of NZ Superannuation 16th December, 2019
• St John , S  Press release on the Budget Policy Staement  13th December
• St John, S ( 2019) )Intergenerational impacts: The  sustainability of New Zealand Superannuation23rd Annual Colloquium of Superannuation Researchers, CEPAR and Risk and Actuarial Studies in the UNSW Business School, Sydney 2-3 December 2019

November

• St John, S ( 2019) The Earned Income Tax Credit, CPAG Summit; Whereto from here, the Whakamana Tangata Report, Otago medical school, Wellington 18th November 2019
• St John, S (2019) The real problem in Winston’s case   Newsroom, 13 h November 2019
• St John, S (2019) ​Winston’s trial this week should be a wake-up call for-everyone  Daily Blog 4th November 2019

October

• St John, S (2019) The 2019 Sir Owen Woodhouse Memorial Lecture, Wellington law school, 16th October, Auckland Law school 22nd October, 2019.
  Video of lecture

September

• St  John, S., & Dale, M. C. (2019). Intergenerational impacts: the sustainability of New Zealand Superannuation Retirement Policy and Research Centre, prepared for the Commission for Financial Capability.
• St John, S., & M.C, Dale . (2019). Decumulation: Time to act. Auckland: Retirement Policy and Research Centre, University of Auckland, prepared for the Commission for Financial Capability

July

• St John, S (2019) Poverty not an earthquake but still a crisis  Newsroom, 9th July

June

• St John, S (2019)  Retirement policies falling under the radar screen  Daily Blog, 30th June
• St John, S (2019) Housing is a mess. Stop messing with solutions Daily Blog , 21st  June
• St John, S (2019) Break open the champagne ,  Daily Blog 5th June,    Wellbeing budget quietly rights a wrong, Newsroom 9th June
• St John, S ( 2019) The wider picture, Senior courts conference: Stability and instability Christchurch, 8th June 2019
• St john, S and Dale, C Unfair superannuation partner rule finally dropped,  RPRC, Scoop, 4th June 2019
• St John, S &  J. MCallister, The cash benefit fuelling NZ’s housing crisisNewsroom30th May 2019 and StuffBad design of the Accommodation Supplement fuels NZ’s housing crisis  Stuff, 3rd June, 2019
• CPAG, Press release 2019, Budget provides relief but nothing transformational for children in poverty – Child poverty Action Group  , 2nd June 2019

May

• St John, S and J Cartwright (2019) ‘Get our children out of poverty’ Tui Motu Issue 2356, 2019 May
• St John, S ( 2019) Poverty and Justice ,Transformational Justice conferences 31st May and 11th June, Wellington
• St John, S (2019) Creditable but not good enough:  Wellbeing Budget 2019: The great Spinoff hot-take roundtable, May 30th 2019
• St John, S ( 2019)   Radio NZ, morning report  and 1ZB, the poverty reduction targets  23rd May [BROKEN LINK]
• St John, S ( 2019)  Media must interrogate menacing privacy breaches   Newsroom 21st May 2019
• St John, S with J MacCalister and A  Johnson,  The Accommodation supplement: the wrong tool to fix the house. Monograph   Child Poverty Action Group , 20th May 2019
• St John, S ( 2019) On welfare: What I wish Sepuloni had said Newsroom 15th May 2019
• St John, S ( 2019) I am not a conspiracy theorist but…. Daily Blog 6th May also see Welfare system report: Advocates hope for more funding , Radio NZ, 26th April 2019  and Press release:  CPAG welcomes WEAG recommendations to ensure dignity for all,  3rd May

April

• St John, S (2019) Decumulation, Session on KiwiSaver, RPRC summit.   The 2019 Retirement Income review and You, 26th April 2019 Auckland Business school.  Also see, Has NZ missed the boat, Good Returns, and NZ missed the boat, not yet, Good Returns.
• St John, S ( 2019 ) Paying too much to keep us warm?, Daily Blog 15th April 2019
• St John, S (2019) Grasping the chance to do it better. Daily Blog 21st April and St John, S (2019) CGT is dead – time to act on alternatives, Newsroom, 30th April
• CPAG, St John, S (2019) New data on benefit sanctions show fairer treatment of those in need, April 2019 St John, S (2019 ) Call for ‘significant’ benefit increases after jump in kids living in poor households, ZB Kate Hawkesby, 3rd April, 2019

March

• St John, S (2019) Is this the best we can do? Critically examining the findings of the Tax Working Group. Panel discussion TOP, 11th March Grey Lynn RSA.   See written version Of course, the left wants a capital gains tax… The Daily Blog  and CGT is dead – time to act on alternatives, Newsroom 26th April
• Susan St John says the minority report from the Tax Working Group should be taken seriously if the desire is to reduce inequality and improve housing affordability  Interest.co.nz, 28th March

January

• St John, S (2019) A New Zealand academic has renewed her call for government intervention to fix a “serious hole” in the country’s retirement income policies. Good returns, 11th January 2019.

November

• St John, S (2015) National does not understand what a work incentive requires, Daily Blog, 18th November

October

• St John, S (2015) The bizarre financialisation of tertiary education Daily Blog 29th October
• St John, S (2015) Women second class students in the neoliberal world, Daily Blog 7th October
• St John, S (2015) The unique New Zealand system for retirement income: Too simple or simply genius? Spotlight on Retirement Incomes Policy. Lunchtime seminar presented by the Australian Social Policy Association (ASPA) and the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL).Melbourne15th October 2015

September

• St John, S (2015), Improving the Affordability of New Zealand Superannuation, Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 3(1): 81–100.
• St John, S (2015), Working for Families/incomes, Summit: Welfare fit for families in a changing world, Sept 8th, Auckland University

August

• St John,S (2015) Another week of neoliberal economics Daily Blog 9th July
• St John, S (2015) Reflections on the Budget 2015 Child Hardship Package, Policy Quarterly, Vol 11 No 3,Victoria School of Governance, Wellington
• Asher, I and St John,S (2015) Poverty, unhealthy housing and poor health in NZ children What needs to be done? Presentation to New Zealand First conference, Rotorua, 1^st August.

July

• St John,S (2015) How NZ can maintain equitable superannuation NZ herald Brand Insight, July 5^th
• St John,S (2015) Future proofing New Zealand Superannuation, 23^rd Annual Colloquium of Superannuation Researchers7, 5-6^th July 2015 CPS Research Group and the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, UNSW, Sydney
• St John,S (2015) The cruelty of social welfare prosecutions against ‘benefit fraudsters’ Daily Blog 9^th July
• St John,S (2015) CPAG oral and written submission on the Child Hardship Bill, Select committee, Wellington

June

• St John,S (2015) Sex-and-beneficiaries-19^th-century-morality-in-21^st-century Daily Blog 22^nd June
• St John,S (2015) OECD report indicates a better policy direction is needed, CPAG press release, 16^th June
• St John,S (2015) Panel Privatisation of Social Services Mt Eden, IKA 9^th June
• St John,S (2015) Coupledom rules Daily Blog 8^th June
• St John,S (2015) Interview on the future of New Zealand Superannuation, Insight Pensions and tensions between generations Radio NZ , 7^th June
• St John,S (2015), Why are we sending women with children to prison? CPAG press release, 6^th June

May

• St John,S (2015) Can we please debate New Zealand Superannuation? Daily Blog 28^th May
• St John,S (2015) Carrot attack to get those lazy sole parents working Daily Blog May 26^th
• St John,S and A.Johnson (2015) Budget 2015 the impact on children, CPAG Annual budget breakfast, Western Spirngs community centre May 22^nd, 2017
• St John,S (2015) The Economics of Child Poverty – The Community of St Lukes Church, 130 Remuera Road, Auckland, 5th May
• St John,S (2015) Child Poverty tax and family income Law school, Guest lectures 443 Faculty of law, May 6th and May 14th
• St John,S (2015) A step change for Children, Fix Working for Families, AUT Briefing papers, May 2015

April

• S St John (2015) Of Mice and Men – try to see it, Daily Blog 14^th April
• S St John(2015) Injustice will eventually be overcome. Daily Blog 2^nd April

March

• S St John(2015) The Budget must get this one right: More income to fix child poverty. Daily Blog 27^th March
• S St John (2015) Social Policies that affect women, UN International women’s day Breakfast, Milord 6^th March

January/February

• S St John(2015) Universal basic income: let’s make a start with those over 65. Daily blog 19th February
• St John, S (2015) Child poverty is dwindling? Daily Blog 12^th February
• St John, S (2015) Improving the affordability of New Zealand Superannuation Working Paper 2015-1. Auckland: Retirement Policy and Research Centre, the University of Auckland.
• St John, S (2015) “Decumulation policy in New Zealand” in Beyond April 2015: the long view on UK pension reform REFORM, London, UK