"Today, Labor again failed to rule out slapping Australian workers with a 15 per cent tax on superannuation payouts, only recently abolished by the Howard Government," the Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Peter Dutton, said today.
"Australia has an ageing population which is a serious threat to future economic stability," Mr Dutton said.
"To address this threat, the Howard Government abolished the 15 per cent tax on end benefits and simplified superannuation to encourage people to save for their own retirement."
"This is the sort of economic management that will maintain Australia’s economic growth," he said.
"First, it took Labor 205 days to agree to support the Government to the end to the tax on super payouts."
"Then, Doug Cameron and the left wing unions, the ‘power and the pennies’ behind the ALP, recently released a discussion paper announcing they want to restore the 15 per cent tax on superannuation payouts."
"Today, Shadow Treasurer, Wayne Swan, delivered a speech to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, outlining what was supposed to be Labor’s ‘future policy directions to enhance Australia’s superannuation system…’."
"However, not once in his speech did he deny that the 15 per cent tax on end benefits would re-introduced," Mr Dutton said.
"This follows the failure of Kevin Rudd to knock this idea on its head as soon as it was announced by the unions in the media."
"Mr Rudd refused to come out and say 'no' to the plan, for fear of putting the unions and their slush funds offside," he said.
"This shows that Mr Rudd doesn’t have the experience to safeguard Australia’s future prosperity and that he is willing to allow the unions to again run the Australian economy ahead of the interests of ordinary working Australians."
"It has now been seven days, and still Mr Rudd and Labor can’t say whether or not he will simply say ‘no’ to the unions on a tax on super payouts."