We’ll block Labor changes to super, vows Peter Dutton

The Coalition is positioning for a major political fight with Labor over the future and purpose of superannuation.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton during Question Time at Parliament house in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

The Coalition is positioning for a major political fight with Labor over the future and purpose of superannuation, with the government fuelling expectations it will attack super tax concessions for the wealthy in the May budget.

Should Labor make any changes to superannuation, Peter Dutton says he would seek to “block it in the first instance”.

“It’s clearly a broken promise. If you create that uncertainty, then people won’t invest and the whole idea of superannuation is it provides for people’s retirement so that they can lead a dignified retirement,” the Opposition leader told Today this morning.

“In the end, it is their money. I mean, they’re the ones that worked for it and contributed. They want the maximum return so that they can enjoy a good retirement.”

Mr Dutton said Anthony Albanese’s address on super at the National Press Club on Wednesday was a gearing up for taxes in the May budget.

“He’s saying, you know, ‘Look, we don’t have any intention now. There won’t be any major changes, at least that’s not our intention’, that’s just double talk for taxes coming in the budget,” he said.

On removing tax concessions for the top 1 per cent, the opposition leader said Labor will keep making its way down the tax brackets should it run out of funds.

“If Labor runs out of revenue sources, they’ve then got to come after the next run down from that,” he said.

In a speech to the super industry on Thursday, opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor will argue Labor has “no mandate to tax and spend” Australians’ retirement savings and that the ­Albanese government is abandoning the foundational principles of super as outlined by Paul Keating.

Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor. Picture: Getty

He will sound the alarm on any changes that risk undermining the “social licence” of the super system or allow the government of the day to tap the pool of $3.3 trillion in retirement savings to fund pet projects.

He will also re-affirm the Coalition’s pre-election policy of accessing super early for first-home buyers, claiming housing was a foundational element and contributor of retirement prosperity.

The setting of a new political battle line over super comes after Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday continued to fuel speculation of changes in the budget – in what the Coalition claims would amount to a broken election pledge – by saying the fiscal cost of super tax concessions could not be “ignored”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Taylor will use his speech to the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia in Sydney on Thursday to set up a political contest with the government, declaring that superannuation is “Australians’ money”.

“It is not a piggy bank to be spent or taxed to fill budget holes,” Mr Taylor said in a draft copy of his address obtained by The Australian. “Arguments that super is not doing enough, by delivering returns to your members, are trojan horses for directing you to fund areas the government of the day determines are priorities.

“These are long-term decisions and long-term investments.

“The entire super system is undermined when parties break election promises, particularly when it comes to the tax arrangements on superannuation.

“Australian governments should be extremely cautious about raising tax on Australians’ super. Change has to be conservative, and measured, and responsive to the real gaps that exist in the system, rather than the whims of governments of the day.

“It is essential that we don’t just preserve Australians’ retirement incomes, but the confidence that exists in superannuation as an institution.”

Outlining the Liberal Party’s principles on super, Mr Taylor will reconfirm the party’s policy of early access to super for first-home buyers and a rejection of the government’s ambitions to tap the $3.3 trillion super pool for “nation-building” projects.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: Gary Ramage

“When the Treasurer argues that superannuation should be used for nation building he doesn’t just misunderstand that it’s not his money, he fundamentally misunderstands how the economy works,” Mr Taylor said.

“Superannuation plays a critical role in our economy and a critical role in the lives of Australians.

“It is essential that we avoid distractions and mission creep ... (and) remain laser-focused on delivering returns to Australians that secure their quality of life in retirement.

“It is also critical that changes are predictable, certain, and consistent with election promises. These are long-term investments, and shifting the goalposts in ways that take away from super, rather than add to it, leaves Australian retirees in the cold.

“This is not just a matter of principle, it is a matter of maintaining the social licence that underpins one of our most substantial economic institutions.”

Dr Chalmers on Wednesday again hinted the government was planning to go after tax concessions for the wealthy in the ­budget.

“I don’t think what we’re talking about now, this morning, or what I was talking about earlier in the week, should be especially controversial, or an especially big shift,” he said.

“As I said, we want to lock down the objective and we acknowledge in doing that, that we want to make it all sustainable. We haven’t taken any decisions but we can’t ignore the cost of these tax concessions with all of the other pressures which are on the budget.”

Dr Chalmers sparked speculation of a government-led crackdown on super tax concessions following a speech in which he highlighted their long-term cost to the budget and plans to legislate a “purpose” for super which would enshrine objectives designed to preserve super for retirement while seeking to leverage members’ funds to invest in nation-building projects.

He proposed that a possible objective for super was “to preserve savings and deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way”.

Anthony Albanese provided an assurance in an address to the National Press Club in Canberra that there would be no “major changes” to super, but didn’t rule out reform.

The government is waiting on a treasury review into any unintended consequences of the former government’s Your Future, Your Super measures to ensure funds are delivering for members.

“We said that we would not have any major changes in superannuation, and that is certainly our intention,” the Prime Minister said. “But we’ll receive the review and the report into superannuation.

“We think that it is important that this continue, and that we do have a debate about the purposing of superannuation.

“What I have and can give the assurance of is that ... we (Labor) remain the party that’s absolutely committed to universal superannuation and to the system.”

Mr Albanese criticised the Morrison government’s decision to allow Australians suffering hardship during the pandemic to access portions of their super.

“Particularly younger people, and younger women, were left with zero in their superannuation accounts because money was withdrawn during that,” Mr Albanese said.

“Now, that was a tough time. But down the track, that is going to cost much more for those people and for their quality of life.”