I don't know if any of you guys and gals out there watch Willie Jackson's Eye to Eye programme late on Tuesday nights on TV One - but I recommend you do.

It's billed as looking at current affairs through Maori eyes.

The reason I mention it is -not just because it can be good entertainment, but because he debated, last night the idea of lowering the age of entitlement to NZ Super for Maori.

(This was good entertainment with the two Pakeha blokes stirring up the two Maori women. Act's Stephen Franks described their arguments as unreasonable and the response was: "I'm the most reasonable person I know").

There's two points which came out of the programme for me. It showed that superannuation is potentially an election topic this year.

I didn't agree with the ASFONZ argument that there is little difference between the political parties in this area.

During the show the Maori Party argued that the age of entitlement for Maori should be lowered. Host Jackson, a former Alliance MP, argued that the age of eligibility should be lowered across the board and that NZ Super should be means tested.

Meanwhile Act's Stephen Franks argued NZ Super is unsustainable and that it should be individualised savings accounts.

The Maori party argument is based on the fact that Maori die earlier so miss out on some of their entitlement, and traditionally many Maori miss out on their pension for a number of reasons.

Frankly their arguments are daft. They are separatist and they are seeking favoritism. If you give the pension to Maori earlier, then smokers should have a lower age of entitlement and women (who live longer than men) should have a higher age of entitlement.

The second point is one I have been interested in for some time, and one I understand Labour may make some noises on. That is people can select their age of entitlement. The pensions paid will be actuarially adjusted so that each person gets the same amount (sort of). People who start early would get a lower annual entitlement while those who start at a later age would be paid more.

It's an idea which has merit and one I would like to see debated further.