The Federal opposition is consulting with stakeholders to ensure the proposed transition to retirement (TTR) changes in the Budget do not adversely impact people on lower incomes who are attempting to build up sufficient savings.
Speaking at Money Management’s sister publication, Super Review’s Future of Superannuation conference today, shadow minister for financial services and superannuation, Jim Chalmers, said his party was consulting with stakeholders and experts about the implications of the proposed changes and whether it is implementable in its current form.
“In Labor’s response we are taking a cautious approach. We want to fully understand the distributional impacts, as well as behavioural effects and any unintended consequences,” Chalmers said.
He said the new measures would force people to move assets out of their retirement super accounts and permit catch-up concessional contributions which typically benefit people on high incomes.
“It has lurched from one extreme to the other, a year ago claiming there is no issue to be addressed, and now introducing a degustation of unexpected and drastic changes,” he said.
“This unpredictability and inconsistency is why there is a line of critics stretching around the block.
“Labor will not be rushed into a view without understanding all the policy costs and consequences and the various points of view in the community.
