Federal election 2016: Morrison’s super policy alienated Libs

Scott Morrison’s changes to super left more than one-third of voters fearful nest eggs would be eroded.

One in two voters believed they would be affected by Treasurer Scott Morrison’s proposals.

Scott Morrison’s changes to superannuation left more than one-third of voters in both lower socio-economic and affluent electorates fearful their retirement nest eggs would be eroded.

Federal MPs have blamed the Treasurer’s policy for costing them crucial votes and said it led to the lowest number of Liberal members, often self-funded retirees, volunteering to man polling booths in 20 years, as donors abandoned the party.

Backbenchers say they were ­inundated with hundreds of calls and emails about the changes, and were warning Mr Morrison that lifelong Liberal voters were planning to lodge a protest vote.

Polling conducted by independent firm JWS in Coalition marginal seats midway through the election campaign showed 35 per cent of people believed they were affected.

Concern about the changes was even higher among 18 to 32-year-olds, where one in two ­believed they would be affected by Mr Morrison’s proposals to limit lifetime non-concessional contributions to $500,000 and impose a $1.6 million cap on the amount that could be kept in a tax-free ­retirement fund.

“The research showed that it was having more of an impact than was appreciated by the government,” said JWS managing director John Scales, who was previously research director at Crosby Textor, the official Liberal Party pollster.

“The government probably needed to find a way to correct the record.”

Mr Scales said while Mr ­Morrison and Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer made it clear in their policy announcement that only 4 per cent of Australians would be affected by the changes, “the message was lost on some people”.

The Weekend Australian understands that former leader Tony Abbott was asked to speak individually to high-net-worth donors to try to explain the merits of the changes and “win over” angry Liberals.

One MP said he had several high-profile local Liberal donors who claimed to be controlling blocs of votes that needed convincing not to lodge a protest.

“It had an impact on donations, definitely, it is hard to quantify — enough to be a cause of concern but not enough to completely ­derail fundraising efforts.”

A federal MP said Malcolm Turnbull was aware of how proposed superannuation changes were playing out in the electorate but resisted a political backflip.

“There was a perception that Malcolm had dilly-dallied on a 15 per cent GST, then on negative gearing — if there had been a third policy on which he had to retreat, it would have made him look exceptionally weak,” the MP, who did not wish to be named, said.

Liberal senator and Abbott supporter Eric Abetz said the policy change had affected voters and Liberal volunteers, who declined to help the party. “It’s an issue that did impact, especially in our volunteer base, and that should never be underestimated,” he said. “We do tend to rely on the self-funded retirees who are very much our core base of supporters.”

Senator Abetz said he knew of one businessman who usually supported the Liberal Party heavily at fundraisers but who declined to purchase tables this year over the superannuation change.

“I would have thought the $500,000 non-concessional cap is the area that hopefully we might be able to look at which occasioned the most upset,” he said.

Retired NSW Liberal politician Charlie Lynn agreed with Senator Abetz. “People weren’t volunteering to be on the booths. This was the thinnest I’ve ever seen it in the 20 years I’ve been in politics,” said Mr Lynn, who has been suspended from the Liberal Party for speaking out on internal party problems.

“By changing the rules of superannuation, they have breached the trust of people.”

One MP said a tactical decision was made to talk as little as possible about the changes for fear of further raising the ire of voters, and the problem was it had been revealed too close to the election.

Talkback radio commentators Alan Jones and Ray Hadley had floods of correspondence from listeners concerned about how their superannuation would be affected.

They tried to warn the Treasurer and Prime Minister but “they simply thought they could not be beaten. The government and the PM have been punished for their arrogance,” Hadley said.