Gillard to hit Australian super savers hard

01/02/13

Julia Gillard seems to think she can use people's retirement savings like an ATM to help fund Labor's wasteful spending.

It is clear that a re-elected Gillard Labor government would force Australians saving to achieve a self-funded retirement to pay the price for Labor's reckless spending over the past five years.

After $172 billion of accumulated deficits and another $120 billion in unfunded promises, Labor is yet again casting around for more cash and has identified Australian super savers as easy targets.

This Labor government has a terrible track record on superannuation already, having imposed more than $8 billion in increased taxes on people's retirement savings so far.

So far Labor has increased taxes on voluntary savings by reducing concessional contribution caps from $50,000 and $100,000 down to $25,000 across the board. Anyone who wants to save more than $25,000 per annum – including their compulsory super contribution – now has to pay more tax.

Labor also dramatically reduced the co-contribution for low income earners and doubled the super contributions tax for high income earners.

They have fiddled with the definition of income to ensure more income is captured in the super taxation net and they have increased capital gains tax revenue from superannuation.

Julia Gillard has all but made clear that under Labor there will be more pain for Australian super savers.
Every time Labor increases taxes on Australian super savers they reduce the incentive for them to do the right thing by saving towards achieving a self-funded retirement.

Labor in government just doesn't know how to manage money and how to live within its means, which is why they have to keep coming up with new taxes all the time.

We need a government encouraging people to save so they can look after their own retirement needs.
Importantly, we need a government that spends less and lives within its means, which therefore can tax less and which is focused on growing our productivity and our economy more strongly.

Stronger growth would not only increase our prosperity, it would also improve people's superannuation returns and would lead to increased government revenue without the need for all these new and increased Labor Party taxes.

If the Coalition is elected to govern there would be no negative unexpected changes to our superannuation system, because we understand that Australian super savers are looking for stability and certainty so they can plan for their retirement with confidence.