‘Dead against it’: Peter Dutton’s superannuation vow

Peter Dutton has unleashed on a plan to overhaul superannuation, warning that ordinary Australians could be next on the hit list.

Peter Dutton has vowed to repeal Labor’s superannuation tax hike should the Coalition be returned to power, warning voters that they’ll be next on the government’s “hit list”.

Tax on superannuation earnings for balances with more than $3m will double from 15 per cent to 30 per cent in two years in a move to claw back $2bn in revenue each year.

The Opposition Leader said the Coalition would not support the changes given Labor had declared it would not tinker with superannuation during the election campaign.

Peter Dutton has issued a warning to ordinary Australians. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We’re dead against it, and we will repeal it. We’re not going to stand by and watch Australians attacked,” Mr Dutton said at a press conference in Victoria.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers repeatedly defended the changes on Wednesday morning, arguing while there would be some “political cost” to the move, overall it was a “modest” reform.

Data released by Treasury on Tuesday revealed the cost of the 10 largest tax expenditures – revenue forgone due to concessional tax – had hit $150bn.

Superannuation tax concessions, the data showed, would be worth more than $50bn this financial year.

The government announced the changes on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Dutton warned the changes, announced just half an hour after the release of the Treasury estimates, were just the start, listing the capital gains tax exemption and negative gearing as the government’s next targets.

“We’ve now seen the first change in what, I think, will be many changes in the superannuation and tax space over the term of this government and into the next term of government if they are re-elected,” he said.

The government expects just 80,000 people to be affected by the changes to superannuation tax concessions. Under the plan, that cap would not be indexed over time.

Asked on Tuesday just how many Australians could fall under the cap in the next decade, the Treasurer refused to say.

“We’ll update those numbers as we need to,” Dr Chalmers said when asked if he’d received modelling from Treasury on the matter.

Dr Chalmers left the door open for a future government to rein in the threshold down the line, but they’d “have to pay for it”.

“I don't think any objective observer could look at our superannuation system and think anything other than we need to make these tax concessions for people with millions of dollars in super more sustainable,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Dead against it’: Peter Dutton’s superannuation vow