Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this important motion from the member for Groom. I know that Labor is a party that enjoys higher taxes and higher cost of living; we have certainly seen that play out over the first couple of years of this government.

But, come 1 July, Labor has yet another tax for the Australian people. It's a tax on superannuation—a direct attack on all Australians who work hard. Superannuation is important for all Australians. It has become, of course, an essential contribution in assisting Australians to retire comfortably. At its heart, super is a reward for a career's worth of hard work, but this Labor government sees superannuation not as money belonging to hardworking Australians but as another opportunity to raise revenue. This tax will hurt Australians.

Labor claims it will only affect a few—and we heard those arguments just before—but the Grattan Institute rightfully points out that it has found, through its analysis, that, within 30 years, one in every 10 workers will be stung with this tax when they retire. Given the amount of inflation we've seen over recent years, who knows how many more will be affected over the course of those three decades. That number alone is 200 times more than the number Labor is predicting it will impact.

In Monopoly, there's a square you can land on called 'Super Tax'. It sits between the two most sought-after properties on the board and just before you collect $200 for passing go. Just when you thought you might get ahead, the super tax on the Monopoly board is, of course, a kick in the guts. Similarly, Labor's super tax is a kick in the guts to all hardworking Australians, because it means that the superannuation that they have accumulated to retire on is reduced.

The future of super, which this Labor government threatens, is important to all Australians, but especially so, of course, to younger Australians. We heard from the member for Groom about the impact that this will have on some of our farmers. But of course the massive impact will be on future generations of Australians who will have to face the impact of this unindexed threshold.

In the coalition, we believe in the importance of young Australians being empowered to utilise their super. We want young Australians to be able to save and build their super for retirement, if they choose. But, as a housing crisis has emerged, as we have seen under the failure of this government—and of state governments, I note—to boost housing supply, we want those young people to have the option to use a small amount of their super to help towards a housing deposit, so that they can break into the housing market.

Every time the topic of superannuation emerges, our Labor opponents immediately try to take some sort of moral high ground on this front, and we have seen that already from the member for Bruce. They claim we're coming after young Australians by daring to give them the financial freedom to utilise their own money for what they need. We've seen the studies: we've seen that the major factor that impacts on or influences an Australian's ability to have a comfortable retirement is whether they own their own home.

That's what our coalition policy is about, in allowing people to access their super. Once they've realised that asset—once they've sold the asset—they have to add the funds, plus a return, back into their super account. It's a policy that makes sense. It's a policy that's actually implemented in super schemes across a whole range of other Western nations that have similar arrangements to us. It's certainly a policy whose time has come. It's a policy that I'm sure many young Australians are looking forward to casting their ballot on, whether it be later this year or early next year, in relation to having the opportunity to use some of their funds to climb that first step on the housing ladder.

Labor are playing with Australian workers' futures to try to fix the shambolic economic mess they presided over. They continue to tax so that the Treasurer can get up on budget night trumpeting about a surplus budget. But, as the member for Groom noted, it's a short-term surplus for long-term pain. While Australians struggle, the taxes pile up and inflation will increase. Of course, this isn't just a tax on the richer end of Australian society. As we head into the coming decades this will be a tax on every Australian. It's a tax on the future of young Australians. As this tax will only really become apparent to many Australians once they reach retirement age, Labor's plan is to covertly welcome super taxes into our system. We know that the current economic situation is tough, and we know it's only going to get tougher under this government.

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