CANBERRA, ACT, Sept. 7 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following transcript:
Jim Chalmers:
Okay. It's now beyond doubt that any Coalition government with One Nation in it will cut your super. This means less money and less economic security for millions of Australian workers. This will end superannuation as we know it and make millions of Australians poorer as a consequence. One Nation is anti‑super because One Nation is anti‑worker. You can't be pro‑worker and anti‑superannuation. Every time One Nation is asked to support the financial interests of Australian workers, they oppose the financial interests of Australian workers. By ending super as we know it, by making Australian workers poorer as a consequence, One Nation is showing once again: this is exactly why One Nation poses an unacceptable and dangerous risk to Australian workers.
This will make Australians worse off, not better off, in retirement. This means lower wages and less super for Australians who are under pressure. Now, Labor, in contrast, is cutting income taxes for millions of Australian workers 5 times. We are boosting wages and we are strengthening super. One Nation is a recipe for less economic security, lower wages and less super, and Australians would be poorer as a consequence. Any Coalition government with One Nation in it will cut your super.
Journalist:
$44 a week back though from your superannuation is better than a $5 a week tax cut, isn't it?
Chalmers:
Every time One Nation is asked to support a wage increase, they oppose it. They oppose penalty rates, they oppose decent increases in the minimum wage. And so, what they're actually proposing here is lower wages and less super. And let's be really clear about that. Now, One Nation does not support the working people of this country. They don't support better wages for workers, and they don't support decent superannuation and retirement incomes for workers. They've made that really clear. And that's because every time they come here, they don't vote the way that Australian workers need them to. They vote the way that Gina Rinehart tells them to. And that's really clear. And once again, whether it's One Nation, the Liberals or the Nationals, they are all anti‑super because they are all anti‑worker.
Journalist:
You can't dismiss, though, the need that people need that extra, you know, $40 a week or whatever it might be. That does go a longer way than the tax breaks that are being offered.
Chalmers:
Well, that's exactly why we're cutting income taxes, boosting wages at the same time as we are strengthening superannuation. And whenever we've tried to cut income taxes for workers, the Liberals and Nationals have voted against it. Whenever we've tried to boost wages. One Nation, the Liberals and the Nationals have made it really clear they don't support that. Now we already know that the Liberals and Nationals don't like super. We now know that One Nation will cut super. Now this is exactly what I mean when I say that One Nation are risky and dangerous when it comes to the financial situation of Australian workers. They don't like super because they don't support workers. And this announcement makes that really clear.
Journalist:
Pardon me. How much would people stand to lose - an average worker stand to lose in compound interest between now and then?
Chalmers:
Well, this is a recipe to make Australian workers tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement. And this is just another example of how the policies of One Nation, the Liberals and the National Party would make Australians worse off, not better off. Let's be really clear, the next election will be a referendum on super. One Nation does not support superannuation because they do not support Australian workers. It's that simple.
Journalist:
Minister Plibersek, though, this morning even she found it convoluted in terms of the extreme hardship that people might fall on to be able to access their super at the moment. Doesn't that also demonstrate just how probably convoluted it is at the moment? How tough it is?
Chalmers:
Well, there are already existing arrangements for people-
Journalist:
Even she found that quite tough to explain; who was able to get it and how they were able-
Chalmers:
Those arrangements are made really clear on government websites and from time to time people avail themselves of those opportunities in the usual way. That system has existed for some time. One Nation is talking about something very, very different. One Nation is proposing a full‑frontal attack on superannuation as a full‑frontal attack on Australian workers and their economic security. So, let's be really clear about this. This is not about the usual early access provisions. This is about One Nation not supporting super because they don't support Australian workers.
Thank you.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
