Amid civil war, super reform to come in stages

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By Leith van Onselen

With the Coalition locked in civil war over its superannuation reforms, Treasurer Scott Morrison has announced that super law changes will be implemented in stages, with draft legislation of the non-controversial elements to be released today. From The Australian:

Mr Morrison said talks were continuing with backbenchers about contentious issues such as a proposed $1.6 million transfer balance cap, $500,000 lifetime non-concessional cap and $25,000 concessional caps… While that discussion continues, he will release draft legislation today for other aspects of the super plan for discussion.

This includes moves to boost the savings of 3.1 million low-­income earners, including 1.9 million women, ensuring the tax on their super contributions is not higher than that on their take-home pay…

Mr Morrison said the other parts of the package would be released in coming weeks “because it is very complex legislation and we are continuing to work through some of those details”, and denied talk they could be abandoned.

I have said it before and I will say it again: the superannuation fiasco highlights the dysfunctionality and deep divisions within the Coalition.

A properly functioning party would have agreed on a reform package before taking it to both the May Budget and the Federal Election, not announcing it first then arguing about it and possibly changing it later.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.