SUBJECTS: Tax reforms, Tony Abbott's ideological opposition to superannuation, Newspoll.
CHRIS BOWEN:
Well, this morning Tony Abbott has made it clear that the Opposition will attempt to block the Government's plans to improve the retirement incomes of Australians. This is disappointing but perhaps unsurprising; unsurprising because Tony Abbott is ideologically committed to opposing everything this Government does; unsurprising because Tony Abbott has an ideological hatred of superannuation. He makes it clear in his book Battlelines that he thinks that tax concessions for superannuation should be stripped away. The Howard Government stood for years against improving the retirement incomes of Australians by increasing the superannuation guarantee.
It will take this Government to deliver this reform. This is a reform we are absolutely committed to delivering, regardless of Tony Abbott's views. Now, Tony Abbott wants to deny Australians an improved and more comfortable retirement income. He wants to deny a 30-year-old on average weekly earnings today an improved superannuation balance of $108,000 when that person retires. He wants to deny an 18-year-old entering the workforce today an improved lump sum on their retirement of $200,000. He wants to deny the Australian economy all the benefits of having another half a trillion dollars in our retirement savings over the next 25 years as the Australian community ages.
Superannuation is a good thing for individuals; it's a good thing for the Australian economy. Improved superannuation is a better thing for Australian individuals; a better thing for the Australian economy. Tony Abbott needs to sack the acting coach and get an economics tutor if he thinks that better superannuation isn't good for the Australian economy. It's not too late for Tony Abbott. He can instruct Liberal Party senators to support this package. He can instruct the Liberal Party to get behind efforts to improve the retirement incomes of Australians. It's not too late for him to do the right thing by thousands of ordinary working Australians who are looking forward to a more comfortable retirement under the Government's better superannuation plans.
I'm more than happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST:
How's the Government feeling after the dip in the polls this morning?
BOWEN:
Well, we don't comment on opinion polls other than to say this: we've said for a long time that this election will be tight, it will be tough, it will be a contest. With all the risk that Tony Abbott brings to the Prime Ministership it is a real risk and I'm sure Australians going to this election will be weighing up that risk, the risk of a Tony Abbott Prime Ministership, which is a real one.
JOURNALIST:
It's the first time the Coalition's taken over in the opinion polls. You must be a bit worried.
BOWEN:
Well, governments, from time to time, when they make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, pay a price. We're just focused on the job and that sometimes means making unpopular decisions. We'll continue to do the right thing, which is to put the interests of the Australian people first, even though that might mean the occasional political downside for us.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think things like the ETS and the insulation dramas have led to this fall that we've seen?
BOWEN:
There's plenty of commentators in the newspapers and elsewhere who make a living out of commentating on opinion polls. I have a different set of responsibilities, other than to say from time to time governments need to make tough decisions, which will have political downsides, but it's still appropriate for governments to make those tough decisions.
JOURNALIST:
How will small businesses afford the superannuation?
BOWEN:
Well, of course the arguments we're hearing from Tony Abbott, which are inconsistent, by the way: on the one hand he says this will be a tax on business; on the other hand he says that this will be a reduction in the income of workers. Now, this is being introduced over a long period of time.
We heard the same arguments when the Keating Government introduced superannuation. We heard arguments about how it would force businesses out of operation. We heard arguments about how it would force unemployment up. None of that happened. Of course, we are allowing more time for this increase to come in than the original increase from six per cent to nine per cent, so we're allowing a very gradual in the retirement incomes –
[Interruption]
Any more questions?
JOURNALIST:
Will you give tax breaks to retail bank deposit holders?
BOWEN:
We will be making further announcements about other elements of the Henry Report over coming months, as the Treasurer has made clear.
Anything else?
JOURNALIST:
Sole traders don't pay company tax and you said that, you know, businesses will be getting those company tax cuts but, you know, some businesses aren't classified as companies so …
BOWEN:
Some businesses aren't classified as companies [inaudible] benefit from the very significant simplification and improvement of cash flow that the Government announced as part of our changes to the depreciation allowance. In addition, those companies that are sole traders or partnerships are, by and large, those companies which employ less people, employ no or few people, a fewer number of employees compared to those companies that are incorporated.
We did consider all these elements when putting together this package but we believe that the very gradual introduction of the superannuation guarantee increase allows plenty of time for these matters to be built into negotiations with employees and unions, as it was when the superannuation guarantee was introduced in the first place, and will also allow time for things like productivity increases and improvements to be built into those calculations. So business has, very deliberately by this Government, been given a long time to adjust to this.
Okay, thank you for your time.