Seymour thinks Peters could be convinced to support raising retirement age

ACT leader David Seymour believes it's possible to "teach an old dog new tricks", and Winston Peters could be convinced to support raising the retirement age.

National's promised KiwiSaver changes have been accompanied by rhetoric about superannuation, with National and ACT both convinced the country cannot afford its ballooning cost if the eligibility age is stuck at 65.

Seymour said gradually raising the age was sensible, warning that the country otherwise risked being forced into doing so suddenly in the case of a financial crisis.

He lambasted Labour's stubborn position on superannuation, after Chris Hipkins ruled out raising the retirement age.

It was put to Seymour that his current coalition partner New Zealand First held the same position.

"You know what, some people say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks," Seymour replied.

"I think there's an exception to every rule."

Seymour said the numbers would do the convincing.

"How do I know that? Because they're staring us at the face," he said, noting people were living longer and having fewer children than when the superannuation scheme was put in place.

"There's not enough taxpayers, there's too many people on retirement for the numbers to add up.

"The best way to do that is to take advantage of longer life expectancy, raise the age, have compassionate early access for those who actually have worked hard for 20 years in physical labour, then you're going somewhere fair."

In the debating chamber on Tuesday afternoon, Peters took a jab at National after its campaign chair Simeon Brown referred to New Zealand First and ACT as squabbling children, and National as "mum and dad" in the middle.

"Does the minister consider it childish to promote a policy that every baby born in New Zealand be provided with a KiwiSaver account and a Kickstart payment, or are mum and dad finally listening now?" Peters asked Nicola Willis.

National's KiwiSaver announcement was very similar to New Zealand First's, announced in May.

Willis replied: "It's a great idea, and I hope that future government gets to deliver it."

Hipkins then raised a point of order, because the exchange was about party policy, not government matters.