PM’s ‘core’ promise on superannuation changes

OPINION: It’s unlikely changes to super only just occurred to the PM and the Treasurer, so what about that ‘core’ promise before the election, writes Mike O’Connor.

Donald Trump set the bar pretty high during his four years as President of the United States but in true Aussie style, our local pollies are showing that they are up to the challenge.

According to The Washington Post, The Donald managed to tell 30,000 lies during his presidency, an average of about 20 a day.

Even if, in allowing for the left-wing leanings of The Post you halve this figure, it was an impressive achievement.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Treasurer Jim Chalmers have now opened their score, the latest contestants in a long line of politicians to demonstrate that they can break a promise as easily as others might break a baguette.

Donald Trump managed to tell 30,000 lies during his US presidency, an average of about 20 a day, according to The Washington Post. Picture: AFP

Former prime minister John Howard had a unique approach to promise breaking by dividing promises into two categories – “core” and “non-core.”

When elected as prime minister in 1996, he promised to retain many of the social policies of the Keating government but then slashed funding to many of them, despite a promise not to do so.

He then attempted – unsuccessfully – to justify this by saying he was keeping his “core” promises but not the other ones that he said were only “non-core” and therefore didn’t count.

Try telling your partner that you’ll be back from lunch with your mates by 6pm and then rolling in at midnight that 6pm was a non-core promise and therefore didn’t count.

Then-prime minister Julia Gillard made what appeared to be a core promise when she absolutely assured the electorate that “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.”

As soon as she was re-elected, she did a deal with the Greens and implemented a carbon tax.

Then-prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2013. Picture: AP

Kevin Rudd also seemed to offer a fairly unambiguous reply to suggestions that in spite of having made a failed attempt to topple Gillard, he still had leadership aspirations.

“There are no circumstances under which I will return to the leadership of the Australian Labor Party in the future,” he said.

He later doubled down, saying “I don’t believe there are any circumstances in which that will occur”. Five days after saying this, Gillard was gone and Rudd was PM.

We know former PM Scott Morrison never told a lie because when he was asked if he had ever told a lie in public life, he replied:” I don’t believe I have, no. No.”

Sitting on the opposition benches, Albanese begged to differ, revealing that Morrison had lied when he said he had told him about his planned secret and now infamous holiday in Hawaii.

“This prime minister has a problem with just telling the truth and it’s a real problem for the nation,” Albanese said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

When you hear one politician accusing another politician of lying, then you could be excused for rolling your eyes skyward and wondering why the Almighty does not smite them both with lightning bolts.

What was a “real problem for the nation” under Morrison is now just fine under Albanese and Chalmers as the charade of the superannuation “conversation”, as Chalmers prefers to describe it, is played out.

When Albanese was asked last May if he would rule out increases to super taxes and changes to super caps, he replied that Labor had “no intention of making any super changes”.

Sound suspiciously like a “core” promise to me.

This has now morphed into not making “major” changes.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard.

As it seems unlikely that it only occurred to the PM and the Treasurer last week to consider changing the regulations surrounding super, it follows that their intention to do so was formed before the election, around the time Albanese assured voters that no such thing would occur.

There’s an unfortunate tendency to regard broken political promises as part of the election process but the incontestable fact is that a broken promise is a lie.

If you lie in court, you can be imprisoned for perjury, but if you lie to the electors, you have sworn to serve then it’s passed off as politics.

Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, said that “if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state”.

We should ponder this as politicians attempt to dismiss allegations of broken promises with a wave of the hand and hold them to account for their lies.

Originally published as PM’s ‘core’ promise on superannuation changes