Forget super; leaders want to focus on nitty-gritty of life

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Peter Dutton doesn’t really want to talk about superannuation.

Anthony Albanese certainly doesn’t want to talk about superannuation.

They both want to get back to talking about the everyday ­struggle with rising costs.

What the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister really want to talk about and to be seen talking about is the cost-of-living pressure on families – rising household electricity bills, growing grocery costs, skyrocketing mortgage payments and how much it now costs to fill the car with petrol or charge the battery.

The politics from the Coalition is all about a “tricky Prime Minister with another broken promise” and from Labor it’s that the Liberals were “prepared to go to the wall” only for people with millions in their superannuation funds while they “victimised and demonised” poor people.

It’s all about trust, and the politics of envy.

Dutton wants to hold the government to account for broken election promises on cutting the cost of living because he knows this is the priority political issue. The obviously broken promise on superannuation changes is more about broken faith and trust than a widespread hit on workers.

Albanese is trying to avoid being seen as not caring about the real issues facing families and spending too much time talking about issues such as the Indigenous voice to parliament and government.

On the first parliamentary sitting day since the superannuation broken promise, Dutton initially asked one question on superannuation and then Coalition questions turned to electricity prices and cost of living.

All of Labor’s questions were about what the government was doing to “take pressure off families” through cheaper childcare and paid parental leave.

Albanese, convinced not enough people are affected by the increased taxes on super fund balances of more than $3m to cause real political damage, harped on having “less than ½ of 1 per cent” of workers ­affected.

He even baited Dutton on not wanting to talk about superannuation by declaring “it’s almost radio silence on super” as he basked in popular acceptance of tax changes that hit so few people.

“We’ve had an hour and a half of question time and they don’t want to ask about superannuation,” Albanese said as a tactical victory killed Dutton’s attempt to put a cost-of-living attack on the televised broadcast.

He did return to superannuation when it was disclosed in the Senate that the “½ of 1 per cent” affected in 2025 would grow to 10 er cent of all workers in 30 years, accusing Albanese of “ducking and weaving”, “being tricky” and misleading the public.

Even with the widening net, superannuation changes don’t carry the same weight and interest for both sides as rising family costs and a breach of faith – that’s where the political battle still rests.