National pitches itself as the party focused on the future

Analysis - Forget about today and turn your attention to tomorrow - that's the message from National this election year as it sets itself up as the party focused on the future.

If you hadn't heard already, 'Building the Future' is one of the key slogans of National's campaign pitch.

It's an idea and promise the party has focus-grouped - successfully, they believe - and will be emblazoned in the memory-bank of anyone who even loosely follows politics.

This year's Budget was built on it, with no lolly scramble or sweeteners, instead a prize of the books being back in surplus for the first time in a decade in a few years' time.

The party's suite of KiwiSaver pledges announced at its 90th annual gathering of the party, this year in Lower Hutt, fits perfectly into its future vision.

There's certainly nothing targeted or temporary about the announcements - two of the three T's (the other being timely) the government is abiding by this year when it comes to relief during the ongoing cost of living and fuel crisis.

The package includes compulsory KiwiSaver for all workers from July 2028, enrolling babies automatically and giving them a $1500 kickstart payment, a government contribution to parents on paid parental leave, and making employer contributions compulsory for those over the age of 65 who choose to keep working.

Find a political party in Parliament who doesn't agree with some, if not all, of those pitches. (Spoiler: you won't, such is the broad support for expanding and incentivising people to save for their own retirement).

A previous iteration of a National government once scrapped the country's then-compulsory retirement savings scheme, but Christopher Luxon wasn't interested in debating that, saying he was looking forward.

What Sunday's announcement did was lay the groundwork for what comes next - the party's superannuation changes.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis used an unusual amount of her time on Budget Day talking about superannuation, going as far as to say political parties who don't do anything about the entitlement age are robbing future generations for the sake of their own political expediency.

She said that while her associate finance minister and coalition partner Shane Jones sat next to her, firmly in the knowledge his party would support no such thing.

The maths on the retirement security blanket is increasingly not adding up, but at the same time, nobody wants to be the first cohort of New Zealanders to miss out on it.

That's meant any messing around with the entitlements in recent decades was a sure road to 'political suicide', but Willis is hoping she's found a sneaky way to ease the pain.

By making such sweeping changes to KiwiSaver in the first instance and pointing people to the extra money they and their loved ones will receive from birth through to retirement is a savvy way of laying the foundation for upping the super age.

If young people today, who know they will be hit by a raised super age in the future, can also see they'll get extra contributions while they're having a family, their kids will get a nest egg from birth, and they'll keep getting employer contributions if still working at 65, then maybe, just maybe, they can stomach a lift in the pension age.

Any party planning to campaign on raising the age must find a way to sell it, because simply saying the country can't afford it isn't going to persuade people in an election year.

National is hopeful pairing it with a boost to KiwiSaver will help voters see the light.

Personal responsibility is one of the key pillars of the National Party's existence, which makes forcing people to join KiwiSaver a tad off-brand.

Yet the standing ovations at the party's conference were bigger, longer and louder - the kind not seen since the John Key days - as each part of the policy was rolled out on Sunday.

The biggest applause was saved for the paid parental leave contributions - a 'mum and dad' vote-winner that had people on their feet as Luxon declared, "being a parent shouldn't come at the expense of your retirement savings".

As Willis said when speaking to media after the announcement: "this is a policy whose time has come".

They'll both find out in November how many people agree.