The Federal Government appears to have secured the passage of its Budget pension changes via a deal with the Australian Greens which will see the consultation period around the Tax White Paper extended by six weeks and the superannuation settings placed firmly on the table.
But while Greens leader, Senator Richard Di Natale ,was talking in terms of a broad retirement income review, the Federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey, was reinforcing the Government’s commitment to no unexpected, adverse changes to superannuation in this term of Government.
The Government’s agreement with the Greens to secure passage of its Budget initiative which will effectively impose a tightening of the pension asset test came in the face of a declaration by the Federal Opposition leader, Bill Shorten, that his party would be opposing the changes.
A statement issued by Senator Di Natale directly after agreeing his party’s position on supporting the Budget changes said that the Government, in return, had “agreed to give special consideration to retirement incomes in its Tax White Paper, which means we can finally look at superannuation as part of the equation”.
Within that statement, Greens community affairs spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert, said changing the assets thresholds and taper rate would make the pension system fairer and that “more Australians who don’t have the advantage of a healthy super balance will be able to access a full pension when we undo John Howard’s tampering with taper rates”.
“The broad retirement income review we’ve secured will be delivered as part of the Tax Review process. The terms of reference are explicit about involving stakeholders at every stage, to build on the already strong appetite for further change, particularly to the super tax concessions,” Siewert said.
However Hockey said the Government “will not increase taxes on superannuation and will not remove any current flexibility in accessing superannuation in retirement”.
“… the Government‘s only planned changes to the pension are contained in the measures outlined in the 2015/16 Budget,” he said. “The Tax White Paper is being undertaken consistent with these commitments.”
Hockey’s statement did acknowledge that the six week extension to the Tax White paper process “allows more time for interested parties to put their views into the Tax White Paper process in relation to key interactions between the age pension, superannuation, taxation and employment”.
