Tony Abbott is sticking to his “captain’s call” refusing to reform superannuation, reaffirming his stance this afternoon, via Business Spectator:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ruled out ever increasing taxes on superannuation…
“We have made a very clear decision that we aren’t ever going to increase the taxes on super,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Williamtown on Wednesday.
Once again, we have a Government that talks tough on “ending the age of entitlement” and the need to reign in the Budget deficit endorsing Australia’s inefficient and inequitable superannuation system, whereby superannuation concessions are projected to grow by a whopping 10.8% per annum between 2014-15 and 2017-18 to some $49 billion.
And because of this revenue black hole, ordinary taxpayers face ever-rising tax bills as fiscal drag pulls them into higher tax brackets, raising their average tax rates. Lower income earners are also punished the most through bracket creep.
The Australian Treasury has called for superannuation reform, as has Financial System Inquiry head, David Murray. Heck, even Treasurer Joe Hockey has admitted that superannuation reform is inevitable. And still, Tony Abbott continues to defend the indefensible.
As I said this morning, the Coalition should have pulled the trigger on Tony Abbott when it had the chance. Instead, it now finds itself against the wall with a fiscally unsustainable superannuation policy that has been universally condemned by seniors groups, the superannuation industry, economists, and policy experts alike, which will severely damage its economic/Budget credentials for as long as it remains in office.
