Paul Keating has taken a veiled swipe at Labor’s plan to increase the earnings tax on super balances above $3 million, as he celebrated the compulsory superannuation guarantee finally reaching the 12 per cent level he had envisioned more than three decades ago.

Keating also blasted previous Coalition governments for frequently freezing the guarantee, which delayed its increase to 12 per cent by 25 years and, he said, cost individual retirees up to $300,000.