Greens 'look forward to constructive discussions with the Treasurer'
Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website – www.dfat.gov.au, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Greens have announced that they intend to work “constructively” with Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party on treasurer Jim Chalmers’ controversial $3 million superannuation tax policy.
Under the policy, earnings on superannuation balances exceeding $3 million will be taxed at 30% – double the current rate of 15%. This includes not only realised investment income but unrealised gains, meaning paper profits on assets such as shares, property, and business holdings will also be taxed annually.
Labor needs The Greens’ support in the upper house to pass the legislation. However, The Green have previously demanded the threshold be reduced to $2 million.
Opponents to the policy have slammed it as a tax on retirement savings that could discourage long-term investing unfairly capture more people over time due to the non-indexed threshold.
The tax is set to begin on 1 July, aiming to raise $2.3 billion annually.
Newly appointed Greens treasury spokesman Nick McKim said on Wednesday: “Over time Australia’s superannuation system has become less about providing a dignified retirement for working people, and more of a vehicle for wealth accumulation. This needs to change.
“The Greens want to ensure that very wealthy Australians pay their fair share of tax, so that governments can do more to support people who need it.”
But McKim also added: "We look forward to constructive discussions with the Treasurer to make sure the legislation is as strong and fair as it can be.
"We have no intention of negotiating through the media or giving a running commentary on those discussions."
Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien stuck to the Liberal Party’s guns, calling the tax “a grave threat to retirement savings, investment, and the property market”.
O’Brien labelled Chalmers’ refusal to index the $3 million threshold as “insidious” and refuted claims that it would only hit 80,000 people.
He said: “He wants to give the impression that he’s a modern-day Robin Hood, taking from fat-cat investors with multimillion-dollar portfolio to fund good deeds of the government. But the way the tax has been designed ensures it will become progressively more punitive and widespread.
“Labor’s super tax is super big and super bad, and it needs to be fought against, especially repugnant features like unrealised capital gains and no indexation.”
