Tony Abbott is sticking to his “captain’s call” refusing to reform superannuation, reaffirming his stance in a radio interview this morning on The ABC:
“…your superannuation savings are safe under this Government. We promised before the election there would be no adverse changes to superannuation in this term of parliament. There have been none, there will be none.
We’ve said that we have no plans for further changes to superannuation, and let me make it crystal clear: under this Government, there will be no increased taxes on superannuation”.
So here 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 now face ever-rising tax bills as fiscal drag pulls them into higher tax brackets, raising their average tax rates. Of course, 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.
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.
