Peters fires back on super

Winston Peters. Photo NZ Herald

NZ First leader Winston Peters says he had "no idea whatsoever" that he was being overpaid superannuation for seven years.

Mr Peters also said today he would consider releasing his correspondence with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to show there was no wrongdoing.

He revealed last night that he was advised by MSD last month that he had been getting a higher rate than he had been entitled to since 2010.

Peters said he immediately repaid the total. Newsroom reported he was overpaid $18,000, though  Mr Peters disputed this figure.

The ministry said today that it appreciated the level of public interest in the case, but would not release any information on privacy grounds.

"As stated by Mr Peters, we have been in contact and the matter has been resolved to the Ministry's satisfaction."

Speaking to Newstalk ZB this morning, Mr Peters said that he declared that he was in a de facto relationship with partner Jan Trotman when he applied for superannuation.

There appeared to have been an alteration to his application form but "no one knows how it was made", he said.

That meant he ended up getting the single person's superannuation rate, Newsroom reported, which was $60 more a week than the payments for a person in a de facto relationship.

It was not until Ms Trotman applied for her pension that MSD discovered Peters' payments were too high.

Mr Peters said he never realised the error because his payments were well below that amount which his married friends were getting.

"Frankly the figure was not high at all and way lower than most of the ones that I was aware of from people I knew who were married or widowed."

MSD had made it clear that there was no wrongdoing, Mr Peters said. They sent him a letter thanking him for his quick co-operation.

Asked whether he would release this letter, and other correspondence with MSD, he initially said he would not.

"If you think I'm lying then that's too bad."

But Mr Peters later said he would consider it.

"I hadn't thought about it, perhaps I should now when I reflect upon it."

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern refused to get involved in the issue, saying it was a matter for Mr Peters.

"It would be helpful if we had more information, but still, ultimately, this is an issue for Mr Peters to be answering questions on."

She would not be asking him for an explanation or more information.

Asked whether Mr Peters should release his correspondence, Ms Ardern said "transparency is always helpful" while adding "that's a question for Mr Peters".

Mr Peters and Jan Trotman live together in St Mary's Bay, Auckland.

Speaking to the Herald last night, Peters said "nobody knows why" he was mistakenly overpaid.

"You have a whole range, maybe six or seven ranges of payments for super. And I'd have been on one of the very lowest ones, and I think I was one up from where I should have been."

The matter was complex and he only knew the rough amount of overpayments. He was asked for and made a repayment that accounted for the overpayments plus interest.

"I just said, 'give me the total figure and I'll pay it off immediately'."

Mr Peters would not disclose that amount, saying it was private.

"That is between me and the MSD. It is a private matter, just like the whole leak [to media] came out of IRD, which is a crime. That's the reality of it all."

Asked if he would follow that up with a complaint, Mr Peters said he was too busy to worry about that but believed he was narrowing in on who leaked his information.

Mr Peters said he did not consider disclosing the overpayments to the public when he learnt of the mistake.

"We couldn't identify how it was made. And therefore the only thing was, 'well, how can we fix it up?' Which we did."