Is this Jim Chalmers’ “Waterloo moment”? Has he been exposed as a promoter of “Chinese-style socialism”? Will the treasurer “end up looking .. like the lead singer in a Wayne Swan tribute band”?
This week, the economics columnists at Australia’s conservative news outlets have been searching desperately for the right words, and colourful enough metaphors, to express their worry about the treasurer’s plan to increase the tax rate on returns for superannuation balances above $3 million. We here at Crikey decided to use our own favorite rhetorical device, Paint by Numbers, to put the issue into perspective.
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Total superannuation balance required to become subject to the new tax increase: $3 million
Tax rate that currently applies to the earnings on those balances: 15%
Tax rate on those earnings after the proposed change: 30%
Number of people the change will apply to: 80,000
Total population of Australia: 27,309,396
Proportion of Australians with superannuation accounts affected: 0.5%
Proportion of affected people aged over 60: 85%
Number of affected people estimated to have self-managed super funds: 50,000
Number of pensioners with an average superannuation worth $3.4 million who weren’t in the military, parliament, judiciary or working as governors-general, as of 2021: 41,000
Lost yearly budget revenue to tax breaks on super contributions: $50 billion
Proportion of the current tax breaks that benefit the top 20% of income earners: 66%
Estimated budget savings in the first full year after changes take effect: $2 billion
Year politicians would have had to start their careers in order to defer the tax payments until they start receiving pensions: 2004
Year public servants would have had to start their careers in order to defer the tax payments until they start receiving pensions: 2005
Year Anthony Albanese was first elected to parliament: 1996
Year Sussan Ley was first elected to parliament: 2001
Year Labor announced the policy: 2023
