Shorten slams super changes
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says millions of people will be worse off if the Government’s compulsory superannuation changes get through Parliament.
Under the latest version of the government’s mining tax repeal laws, the Treasurer would be granted the power to delay increases to superannuation.
This year the Coalition budgeted to boost the super guarantee to 12 per cent by 2022 but the new mining tax repeal legislation provides the option to delay the increase until 2034.
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Bill Shorten said Prime Minister Tony Abbott is sabotaging people’s retirement dreams.
“Millions of Australians, people in their 20s and their 30s and their 40s and indeed their 50s will have tens of thousands of dollars less to retire on because Tony Abbott’s decided to break his promise,” he said.
In the first repeal bill the schedule of increases had to be approved by the Parliament.
The fresh legislation was pushed through the Lower House in about two hours on Monday, but the Government will have to negotiate with the crossbench to get the bill through the Senate.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Steve Ciobo said the superannuation changes are about helping business.
“Provisions within the legislation in relation to the superannuation guarantee will provide business certainty, but ultimately I don’t think we should get too far ahead of ourselves,” he said.
The mining tax was introduced by the previous Labor government, and repealing it is one of the Coalition’s key election promises.
A spokeswoman for Treasurer Joe Hockey yesterday said he intended to stick to the 2022 deadline.