5 May 2019
Dear Prime Minister,
On Wednesday, 17 April 2019, I received an email from Des Moore, a former Treasury Deputy Secretary. It included, amongst other attachments, the AFR article by Andrew Tillett and Tom Mcllroy. It is datelined “Apr 16, 2019 – 9.00pm”.
That article said, amongst other things:
“Superannuation battlefield
Campaigning in the retirees’ haven of Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, which is in the marginal seat of Corangamite, Mr Morrison sought to sharpen the differences with Labor, as well as win back the Liberal base, by vowing no more tinkering with superannuation. “I make it very clear, no new taxes, no higher taxes on superannuation under my government ever,” he said. “This gives people certainty to plan for their future. It means that the goal posts will never be shifted.”
….
But Mr Morrison said Labor could not be trusted on superannuation. “I have no idea what Bill Shorten was talking about today when he says he won’t be putting increased taxes on superannuation. That’s his policy,” he said. “But I suppose, if you’ve already racked up $387 billion in higher taxes, he must have forgotten that includes $34 billion of taxes alone on superannuation. “When the number gets that high, he’s either lying about it today or he’s just forgotten the last person he hit with higher taxes.”
….
The Prime Minister rejected criticism of his own record on making unexpected superannuation changes, when as Treasurer he unveiled a number of changes to tackle what he described as “excesses” in the system at the 2016 budget that sparked a backlash among wealthy retirees.”
Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten your own earlier broken promises.
You made 12 similar promises in May – June 2015 as Minister for Social Services in the Abbott Government:
Scott Morrison’s 12 tax-free superannuation promises : May to June 2015
(1) 3AW – 19 June 2015
“That is why we are so adamant about not having adverse changes to superannuation, that’s why we aren’t going to increase taxes on superannuation, and why we are trying to provide stability and certainty around superannuation for the simple reason that we want people to invest in it.”
(2) Sky News – 17 June 2015
MINISTER MORRISON: What we are not going to do is we are not going to tax those savings, like Bill Shorten wants to do. That is the difference, we will not tax your super, Bill Shorten will.
MINISTER MORRISON: Yes, and there are other taxation arraignments that apply to superannuation already and we are not going to increase those taxes as the Labor Party does and nothing we have done with the Greens has in any way changed the Government’s position on not taxing your super. We will not tax your super.
(3) Question Time – 16 June 2015
And when they get into their retirement, we are going to make sure that their hard-earned savings in their superannuation will not be the subject of the tax slug that those opposite want to impose, … Those opposite see it as a tax nest—a tax nest for those to plunder.
The shadow minister earlier referred to ‘trousering’. The ‘trouser bandit’ sits over there because he, together with the shadow Treasurer, wants to come after the hard-earned superannuation savings…
What we will do for them is: we will not tax them like the ‘trouser bandit’ opposite.
(4) Sky News PM Agenda – 16 June 2015
The Government has made it crystal clear that we have no interest in increasing taxes on superannuation either now or in the future.
… unlike Labor, we are not coming after people’s superannuation…
(5) 2GB – 25 May 2015
Well that is right because the tax incentives that are given for superannuation – which we strongly support and we don’t want to take away – the Labor Party wants to take those away. What we want to do is encourage people to save for their retirement but then when you are in retirement that is what you draw on, not the pension. The whole point of putting those incentives in place is so that people don’t have to draw down on a pension.
Under us we think that more welfare and higher taxes is not the way forward.
(6) Question Time – 25 May 2015
But on this side we think that those who have an entitlement are those who earn income to save for their retirement, the sort of income that they want to draw down in their retirement and which the shadow Treasurer wants to tax to within an inch of its life. On that side of the House it is all about higher taxes and more welfare, but not on this side and not in this budget.
(7) 3AW – 18 May 2015
MINISTER MORRISON: Well we do want to encourage everyone … to be saving for their retirement and particularly when you are drawing down on that when you are retired we don’t want to tax you like Chris Bowen does.
(8) Doorstop – 8 May 2015
“Superannuation is there for people who have been saving over their lifetime to provide for their retirement. We don’t think that people who have done that should be punished with higher taxes, Bill Shorten does, and so does Chris Bowen and I think that’s a stark difference between the Government and the Opposition on these issues.”
(9) Press Conference – 7 May 2015
The Government does not support Labor’s proposal to tax superannuants more on the income they have generated for their retirement.
(10) Sky News AM Agenda – 5 May 2015
…what is not fair is if you save for your retirement and you create yourself a superannuation nest egg and the Government then comes along and taxes that income; which is what Labor are proposing to do.
(11) ABC RN – 5 May 2015
It’s the Labor Party who wants to tax superannuation, not the Liberal Party, particularly the incomes of superannuants and I think that’s a fairly stark contrast that’s emerging.
(12) 3AW – 1 May 2015
My own view is that the superannuation system, for example, meant I don’t want to tax people more when they’re basically investing for their own future… That’s why I think Chris Bowen’s idea, …of …taxing superannuation incomes, is a bad idea, I don’t support it…
Source:
Prepared and edited by Save Our Super from:
CHRIS BOWEN MP
JIM CHALMERS MP
WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2016
Further, in February 2016, as Treasurer in the Turnbull Government, you rightly cautioned against what you called the ‘effective retrospectivity’ of raising taxes or restrictions on the pension phase of superannuation, after attracting and trapping savings in superannuation for some 40 years under the earlier legislated tax rules (http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/speech/001-2016/).
Then, in May 2016, as Treasurer, you broke your earlier promises and did just that.
In the May 2016 Budget, you went after people’s superannuation. You imposed higher taxes on those saving for retirement.
You failed to include in the May 2016 Turnbull/Morrison Budget appropriate ‘grandfathering’ provisions which have accompanied every major adverse change in pensions and superannuation tax for the last 40 years.
Why should Australians believe you now?
Many (including those in Higgins), are unlikely to do so.
Regards,
Jack Hammond QC – Founder, Save Our Super
