ACT senator David Pocock has backed changes to restrict access to superannuation tax concessions as the opposition vows to fight government reforms "tooth and nail", intensifying the political battle over Australian's $3.4 trillion of retirement savings.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday insisted the government had yet to decide on any changes to superannuation and said "there won't be major changes [to superannuation] coming forward in the budget".
But remarks by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones about the ballooning cost of superannuation tax concessions, particularly for those who have amassed more than $3 million in savings, have fuelled speculation the government is planning an overhaul of super tax arrangements.
Senator Pocock welcomed the government's move "opening the door to superannuation reforms".
"At a time when we are constantly reminded of the growing pressures on the federal budget, I question whether the current structure of tax concessions is appropriate, given we spend more on them annually than the NDIS or the aged care system," the senator said.
Senator Pocock said he was "not interested in attacking people's super".
"But what I do want to see is an end to generous tax concessions for superannuation accounts with multi-million dollar balances, and the savings from that directed into other areas such as health and housing that are crying out for funding," he said.
The ACT senator's support could be crucial to any legislated reforms to super tax arrangements after deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday night committed the Coalition to fighting super changes.
Ms Ley, who has been visiting Western Australia as part of a Coalition effort to rebuild support in the state following last year's federal election, declared "we will fight Labor's changes tooth and nail".
"Whereas Labor's first instinct in government is to tax the money you've earned and accumulated in your superannuation, ours will be the exactly the opposite," she said.
But, in a message carefully calibrated to appeal to disaffected Liberal voters, particularly women, Ms Ley, who is also the opposition's spokesperson on women, said the Coalition was examining how super could be changed to improve support for older women, citing the experience of a 58-year-old woman who had sacrificed her career to support her family and was forced to flee a violent partner.
"Under current laws, only once this woman falls on 'severe' financial hardship ... can she access her superannuation," Ms Ley said.
"That is ridiculous. It is appalling."
Ms Ley said allowing such a woman to use her super to help purchase a home could help secure her financial independence "for life".
"Imagine how many women would be economically empowered ... if we took an expanded version of last election's Super Home Buyer Scheme to the next one," she said.
Ms Ley admitted that details of the idea were yet to be finalised.
"But this is an early marker I lay today. We won't be relying on weasel words to demonstrate to the women of Australia that we are listening and learning," she said.
"We'll rely on a set of policies that clearly shows our commitment to making their lives better."
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In a further pitch to lure WA voters back to the Coalition, Ms Ley claimed the government was "desperately working towards scrapping" the stage 3 tax cuts in the May budget.
But Dr Chalmers has refuted such claims, telling Sky News the government had not changed its position on implementing the cuts.
"Those stage 3 tax cuts ... don't come in for more than 12 months. We've got an economic plan which is all about relief and repair and restraint, and we haven't changed our position on those tax cuts," the Treasurer said.