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Assembly Members' Superannuation Act 1984

NIUE LAWS
LEGISLATION AS AT DECEMBER 2006

ASSEMBLY MEMBERS’ SUPERANNUATION ACT 1984

1984/98 – 1 April 1984

1 Short title

2 Interpretation

3 Assembly Members Superannuation Account

4 Contributions by Members

5 Subsidy from Niue Government Account

6 Retiring allowance

7 Death of a Member

8 [Spent]

9 Provision for payment

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To establish a superannuation scheme for Members of the Assembly

1 Short title

This is the Assembly Members’ Superannuation Act 1984.

2 Interpretation

In this Act –

"Member" means a Member of the Assembly established under article 16 of the Niue Constitution and includes the Premier, Cabinet Ministers and the Speaker;

"Superannuation Account" means the Assembly Members Superannuation Account established under section 3.

3 Assembly Members’ Superannuation Account

(1) There is hereby established within the Niue Government Accounts an account to be known as the Assembly Members’ Superannuation Account.

(2) There shall be paid into the Superannuation Account, without further appropriation than this section, such sum or sums as may in the opinion of Cabinet be required to provide a fund sufficient to provide for the payments under this Act.

(3) Money from the Superannuation Account may be invested in such manner as Cabinet sees fit having regard to the need to ensure that the investment is secure at all times.

(4) The Superannuation Account shall be treated in all respects as if it were public money for the purposes of annual accounts and auditing.

4 Contributions by Members

(1) As from 1 April 1984 there shall be deducted from the salary of every Member a superannuation contribution at the rate of 10 per cent of the basic salary of a Member.

(2) A Member may elect, if he so wishes, to contribute a greater amount from his salary.

5 Subsidy from Niue Government Account

The Cabinet shall pay out of the Niue Government Account without further appropriation than this section into the Superannuation Account a subsidy in respect of each member at a rate of 10 per cent of the basic salary of a Member for each Member.

6 Retiring allowance

(1) Every Member who ceases to hold office as a Member shall be entitled to either –

(a) The refund in full to him of his own contributions together with the interest that has been earned on those contributions; or

(b) A retiring allowance purchased by the Superannuation Account on his behalf using the total of the Members’ own contributions, together with the subsidy by the Government for that Member, and the interest that has been earned.

(2) A Member who ceases to hold office in the Assembly may if he so wishes defer indefinitely making a decision under subsection (1) in which case his own contributions and the Government subsidy for the period that he was a Member shall remain in the Superannuation Account and shall continue to earn interest.

(3) Where a Member who has ceased to hold office in the Assembly is subsequently re-elected to the Assembly all entitlements shall come to an end unless and until that person again ceases to be a Member of the Assembly at which time all of his periods of time in office shall be aggregated for the purposes of ascertaining his entitlement under subsection (1).

7 Death of a Member

(1) In the event of the death of a Member the spouse of that Member shall be entitled to either –

(a) A refund in full of the contributions made by the deceased Member together with the interest that had been earned on those contributions; or

(b) (i) An allowance equivalent to 50 per cent of the retiring allowance that the deceased Member would have been entitled to had he ceased to be a Member immediately prior to his death;

(ii) Such allowance shall cease upon the remarrriage of the spouse.

(2) The allowance payable under this section shall be payable on and from the day following the date of death of the Member.

8 [Spent]

9 Provision for payment

(1) Any allowances and other money payable under this Act shall be paid out of the Superannuation Account without further appropriation than this Act.

(2) Where in any year the money in the Superannuation Account is insufficient to meet all payments required to be made, Cabinet may, without further appropriation than this section make an advance from the Niue Government Account sufficient to meet the deficiency.