Super wars heating up
THE “super wars” Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised to end are just heating up, as the opposition accuses Labor of breaking election promises.
Last week, Dr Chalmers announced a plan to legislate an objective of superannuation, a statement that soon turned the conversation towards tax concessions.
The government is adamant that no decisions have been made, but the Coalition have accused Labor – who during last year’s election campaign promised “no changes” to the super system – of breaking their promise.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor told Sky News on Sunday: “Well, the reality is that we didn’t make the election promise that they did before this election.
“This will just be the beginning for Labor. They’re coming after your money, they love to tax … We’ll see more as we approach the May budget.”
But Dr Chalmers once again sought to downplay the claim, saying no “major” changes were being considered, and the government was simply starting a conversation about the future.
He said the government had to consider whether the country could afford the “incredible tax concession” arrangements for the wealthiest Australians when there was so much strain on the budget. “I think it’s important that we engage people,” he told Sky News.
“This is a big pressure on the Commonwealth budget at a time when we’ve got to fund the cost of servicing all of this debt.
“We’ve got to fund the NDIS and aged care and hospitals and defence.
“So we should be capable of a conversation that says ‘we’re not proposing major changes to superannuation, we haven’t taken any decisions yet, but this is an area of concern to us’.”
The treasurer said less than 1 per cent of Australians had a balance of at least $6m in their super funds, but were enjoying “incredible concessional tax arrangements”, which could be a good place to start in looking to alleviate the budget.
He would not be drawn on whether he was looking specifically at a cap on super fund balances, but said the government was welcoming suggestions from third-parties, like the Grattan Institute, in “good faith”.
However, Mr Taylor said at the end of the day, the “reality” was that “it’s a broken election promise”.