Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared the next election a referendum on superannuation as cashed-up unions unveil a national campaign to fight the Liberals and One Nation.<\/p>\n
Some of Australia\u2019s biggest unions have joined forces after Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg called compulsory super a \u201closs of liberty\u201d and suggested that next there would be \u201csuper for cats and dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf any combination or coalition of the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation win the next election, it will be the end of compulsory super for workers,\u2019\u2019 Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will decimate super and destroy the economic security and retirement incomes of Australian workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the single biggest threat to the superannuation system in four decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will end super as we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nurses\u2019 Union secretary Annie Butler said any attempt to dismantle the compulsory superannuation system was \u201ca direct attack on the financial retirement security of every nurse, midwife, and care-worker in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNurses, midwives and care-workers, who have spent their working lives caring for others, deserve the right to have a financial safety net which provides them with a comfortable standard of living when they retire,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
ACTU Assistant Secretary Joseph Mitchell said the campaign would run until the next election in 2028.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking people love their super and want to see a successful super system that provides a great retirement income,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than support this effort, Andrew Bragg and Pauline Hanson are looking to collaborate and tear it all down.\u201d<\/p>\n
AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow said any call to abolish superannuation is a direct attack on the wellbeing and economic security of working families.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuperannuation is a fundamental Australian right that unions fought for and won. In times past only the wealthy could access a comfortable retirement. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe fought so that every Australian worker could look forward to their final shift,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
One Nation\u2019s super policy<\/p>\n
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has flatly rejected claims she wants to end compulsory super.<\/p>\n
But Barnaby Joyce has called for workers to be able to cash in their super \u201cif they can\u2019t feed themselves\u201d instead of needing to be sick or dying to raid their retirement savings.<\/p>\n
One Nation maintains the current system is too restrictive, with too many rules about when cash can be accessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can get access to your super after 26 weeks on social security,\u2019\u2019 Barnaby Joyce said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already have people who can access this super. You\u2019re on hardship. You can.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think one of the hardships people have is if they can\u2019t feed themselves because of the cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Australian Taxation Office, existing guidelines allow you to access your super early in limited circumstances on compassionate grounds, as well as terminal illness, incapacity and severe financial hardship.<\/p>\n
The reasons include medical treatment for you or your dependant, medical transport, modifications to your home or vehicle relating to special needs arising from a severe disability, palliative care, death, funeral or burial expenses for a dependant and preventing foreclosure or forced sale of your home.<\/p>\n
According to recent data, there were 93,500 applications to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for early access last year under the medical treatment category for compassionate release.<\/p>\n
Around one in three applications were rejected by regulators, while a total of $1.4 billion in super was approved for release.<\/p>\n
As One Nation continues to develop policy in this area, Mr Joyce said he also supported access for home buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd another hardship is if they don\u2019t have a house and they put out the street and, and they\u2019re living in a car,\u2019\u2019 Mr Joyce said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurely it\u2019s their money, and we should give a little bit more respect about what they can do with their own money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pauline Hanson urges super rethink<\/p>\n
Pauline Hanson has also suggested that low-income earners would be better off taking the money now as a pay rise.<\/p>\n
The Australian superannuation system currently holds over $4 trillion in total retirement assets, making Australia a global superpower in retirement savings.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said she was open to radical options, including rethinking the entire super guarantee that requires employers to pay 12 per cent on top of salaries into super funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, there\u2019s a lot in that one with compulsory superannuation,\u2019\u2019 Senator Hanson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of Australians are doing it tough now and struggling to pay their mortgages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some ways, I feel that you should give them their money now and let them help them with the cost of living. It is their money; they\u2019ve sacrificed it in lieu of pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, in a lot of cases, people want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that the super system wasn\u2019t resulting in the reduction of people claiming the aged pension that had been expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was supposed to be for in later years, so the government didn\u2019t have to pay out full age pensions to these people,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people (are) pulling out their superannuation, spending it, then end up on the age pension anyway. I think the whole system is broken, to tell you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson has previously backed calls to use super for housing, with important caveats.<\/p>\n
Upon a sale of the property, proceeds commensurate with the superannuation investment would be returned to the fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe brought out the policy that you could use the superannuation to put a deposit on your own home loan,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuperannuation should be lightened up a bit so people can utilise this money in times of crisis. It is their money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberals consider super overhaul<\/p>\n
Liberal leader Angus Taylor is under pressure from his own frontbench to consider a radical overhaul to superannuation.<\/p>\n
Outspoken Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has confirmed he believes that compulsory super is a failed policy that\u2019s ripe for a rethink.<\/p>\n
Mr Bragg set the hares running last week with a speech at the National Press Club before making further comments that the super guarantee was a failed policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t worked,\u201d Mr Bragg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, it\u2019s one of the biggest public policy failures since federation, in the sense that it hasn\u2019t helped the budget, and it has not really helped many people get off the pension.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it has done is it has created a huge viper\u2019s nest for banks and financiers and unions to pilfer, which is why what you saw at the Labor Party conference was now you\u2019re going to have super for under 18s, and soon you\u2019ll have super for cats and dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bragg wants to scrap universal super<\/p>\n
Senator Bragg hasn\u2019t tried to hide his views in the past, calling for an end to compulsory super.<\/p>\n
\u201cMandates are always costly. And in this case, it takes 12 per cent from people\u2019s wages to vest them with managers they will never meet. It is a loss of liberty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n