This follows the announcement that Chief Ombudsman Peter Bouchier would retire due to the legislation
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon indicated that he will maintain the law that imposes age restrictions for certain public positions, reported the NZ Herald.
Luxon’s comments come after the announcement of Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier’s retirement due to the Ombudsmen Act 1975, which mandates his resignation upon reaching the age of 72 on 16 March. Boshier had been in the role since 2015.
Boshier confirmed that Gerry Brownlee and the Officers of Parliament Committee would be in charge of determining who the new chief ombudsman would be. Chief ombudsmen serve on five-year terms as recommended by the Officers of Parliament Committee, led by the Speaker. Nonetheless, the committee endorsed Boshier to be reappointed in April 2020.
The age limit issue was brought up to Luxon during a press conference at the Manukau SuperClinic, where he, alongside Health Minister Dr. Shane Reti, launched the mobile breast screening unit. Luxon said that the issue was a case-by-case situation.
"It’s something we can look at down the road", Luxon said in a statement published by the Herald. "But we haven’t discussed that too deeply, to be honest. In a country where we’ve been increasing the average life expectancy every decade, there are pretty good reasons for why people are still wanting to work in their 70s. Others may not. But we haven’t had those discussions".
