Labor’s super policies slammed
The Federal Government has slammed Labor's superannuation proposal to tighten the tax belt on superannuation, saying the "tax grab would thwart people" who wanted to catch up on super contributions due to irregular work patterns.
The comments came a day before Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison, introduced legislation into Parliament to enshrine the objective of superannuation to "provide income in retirement to substitute or supplement the Age Pension", as stated in the Financial System Inquiry recommendations.
Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O'Dwyer, said the Government's reforms particularly aimed at helping workers with super account balances of less than $500,000 as well as those with irregular income patterns such as farmers, as well as small business people and their employees by letting them claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions.
"Labor has changed its position on super countless times. Even today, Labor's superannuation spokeswoman, Katy Gallagher, is on the record that Labor has yet another superannuation plan that they are yet to announce," O'Dwyer said, adding leader of the opposition, Bill Shorten confirmed this in a press conference.
"Labor sees superannuation as just another honey pot from which to draw revenue. You just can't trust Labor with superannuation."
In introducing the legislation yesterday, Morrison also prescribed five subsidiary objectives of super, including facilitating consumption smoothing over an individual's life, manage retirement risks, ease fiscal pressure on government from the retirement income system, and provide safeguards while being simple and efficient.
"The subsidiary objectives, with the primary objective, provide a comprehensive framework for assessing changes to superannuation policy," Morrison said.
Challenger welcomed the introduction of the legislation into Parliament, with chief executive, Brian Benari, saying it was vital for the changes to be implemented quickly as more people moved into retirement in order to offer a wider range of products.
"This legislation is a turning point. It will allow for a range of new products, including deferred lifetime annuities, which are building blocks for CIPRs [comprehensive income products for retirement]," he said.
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