Source : Perth Now news
Cracks have formed in the federal opposition over whether to let people tap their superannuation early after months of policy vacillation.
The coalition took a policy of allowing people to use their retirement savings to fund part of a home deposit to the last two elections but is yet to decide whether to continue or drop the plan after its 2025 poll defeat.
But one Liberal MP believes he has been able to convince his colleagues to ditch the policy and agree to leave superannuation alone.
“We should be offering no changes at all to how it’s invested, taxed or accessed,” Garth Hamilton told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
“We look at the uncertainty that exists, economists are telling us next year is going to be worse than the past year – I think our focus needs to be on the future and that security.”
A backbencher from rural Queensland, the MP is one of the coalition’s arch attack dogs against One Nation, which has pitched a plan to allow cash-strapped workers to pocket three per cent of their compulsory super contributions for three years.
The minor party unsuccessfully tried to tack its “super pay boost” onto tax legislation Labor was seeking to ram through parliament on Thursday.
Mr Hamilton had previously supported exploring early access to super to give home-buyers a leg up, along with his party’s treasury spokesman Tim Wilson and housing spokesman Andrew Bragg.
Using super to buy a home had the support of 60 per cent of Australian voters, according to a DemosAU poll conducted in September, while just 41 per cent backed a One Nation-style proposal.
The Queensland MP said he had spoken to Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on the issue but had not pressed him on whether super should remain untouched.
Senator Bragg has been one of the Liberals’ loudest advocates for revamping the compulsory superannuation scheme, most recently suggesting the funds should be used as collateral to secure a home loan.
He previously labelled the compulsory superannuation system “one of the biggest public policy failures since federation”, leading to criticism from Labor that the coalition wanted to dismantle the long-standing policy.
The opposition was still mulling its policies and had not made any decision on whether to continue with a superannuation-for-housing plan, Senator Bragg told AAP on Sunday.
“We clearly want to avoid becoming a nation of retired renters which is why we are reviewing housing and retirement settings,” he said.
The Liberals retreating from superannuation policy changes would deny Labor a line of attack after the government slammed the opposition’s proposals as potentially devastating to retirement incomes.
Super Members Council boss Misha Schubert welcomed Mr Hamilton’s about-turn, saying super should not be used as a piggy bank to address other policy problems.
“These comments reflect what Australians instinctively understand: super will be your pay cheque in retirement – and it shouldn’t be undermined or diverted,” she said.
