Australian Financial Review
28 March 2022
Chanticleer – Tony Boyd
Superannuation was once a soft target for politicians trying to raise revenue. They have backed off in the face of changed community perceptions and super’s status as a sacrosanct saving vehicle.
It says a lot about superannuation’s changed perception in the community that politicians no longer see it as a soft target for boosting revenue.
There was a time when the Liberal-Nationals Coalition was willing to waste political capital on opposing the move to a Super Guarantee charge of 12 per cent.
Not any more.
In fact, the Minister for Superannuation, Jane Hume, tells Chanticleer in the clearest terms possible that “there will be no increase in super taxes under a Coalition government”.
“There will be no sneak tax increases via by making it more difficult to put money into super under a Coalition government,” she says.
With an eye to potentially wedging Labor over the policies it took to the last election, Hume says there will be no adverse changes to super taxes, no adverse changes to contribution limits, and definitely no changes to the government’s contribution flexibility measures.
She says there will be no changes to catch-up contributions and concessions for a couple downsizing to a smaller house to put an extra $300,000 into super.
The Coalition will not meddle with the ability of retirees up to the age of 74 to make contributions without meeting the work test.
Also, Hume says there will be no adverse changes to the Division 293 tax threshold, which imposes a $250,000 upper limit before the 15 per cent contribution tax comes into play.
Whenever Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has been asked about Labor’s previous tax policies, he has responded with the phrase: “It is not our policy until we announce it.”
Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers tells Chanticleer: “We’ve said consistently that we won’t take the same policy agenda to this election that we took to the last election.
“All of our policies will be clearly set out before the election.”
But that is not a denial. It is pretty clear that a decision is yet to be made on these issues, which could potentially boost Labor’s revenue by multiple billions of dollars.
Doing nothing
With about six weeks to go before the election, there is still time for Hume to wedge Albanese and Chalmers, but that pressure is most likely to be greeted with a commitment by Labor to do nothing.
Super’s ascension to a position beyond the reach of politicians seeking revenue matches changing community attitudes, which are well summed up in research by CT Group.
The research, which was commissioned by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, found that super was not on the issue agenda for the vast majority of Australians.
“Australians believe that more money should be saved for their retirement, not less,” the research found.
Although many are concerned they might not have enough money saved to live well when they retire, they are also concerned that others who don’t save might become a burden on taxpayers.
Australians are happy with the performance of their super funds and there is strong support for not allowing early access to super across the full spectrum of different demographic, socio-economic and voter groups.
“The industry is viewed highly favourably, and Australians are satisfied with how the industry is performing across a range of key metrics,” the research found.
“There is high support for maintaining the legislated increase in the Super Guarantee to 12 per cent, and high support for ensuring that any additional super contributions are taken as compulsory retirement savings.”
