DAVID KOCH:
Joining me now, Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Jim Chalmers, can we trust you not to keep dropping this cap on super concessions?
JIM CHALMERS:
Good morning, Kochie, and yes you can. Our intention is to leave this cap at $3 million or this threshold. And the important things for your viewers to understand, not just that 99 and a half per cent of people will be unaffected by this change, but even for the half a per cent who are doing quite well and have millions of dollars in their superannuation account, there will still be tax breaks for them, they'll just be a little bit less generous.
KOCH:
How can you guarantee it won't be extended? Will you put that into l‑a‑w, law?
CHALMERS:
The legislation will say that the threshold is $3 million, and just as importantly, we will take that to the people. This change doesn't come in until after the next election. We've done that deliberately, we want to take it to the people. And that will give our political opponents the opportunity to say - if they want to restore this, they want to restore these tax breaks for people who are doing incredibly well already in the superannuation system - then they need to identify where the money will come from, otherwise. And the last time they were in government, Peter Dutton came after Medicare and so there will be choices at the next election.
KOCH:
Will these new rules apply to retired politicians? Will they apply to the Prime Minister?
CHALMERS:
Yes, what we said yesterday, Kochie, is that one of the reasons why we announced it yesterday ahead of the Budget, because we want to give ourselves the opportunity to consult on these changes. And one of the things that we do want to do and we do want to get right, is to include defined benefit schemes. There's a bit more complexity in that part of the system. So we want to talk to the sector, but we do want to include defined benefit. That's one of the reasons why we're having this consultation period.
KOCH:
Okay, so because you run the politician superannuation fund, the Prime Minister, when he leaves, he's under the old extremely generous fund. He will retire on $423,000 a year, every year, for the rest of his life. That's millions and millions of dollars. So this will apply to him?
CHALMERS:
Yeah, that's our intention. We're trying to include defined benefit schemes in the announcement that we made yesterday, and we're consulting to try and make sure that we get that right.
KOCH:
Okay, and Albanese is happy with that?
CHALMERS:
Absolutely, absolutely. And I think it is an important thing for your viewers to understand that that more generous scheme did end in 2004. There is some defined benefit in the system still, and not just politicians, but in other parts of government and judges and others and we want to get it right, because every scheme is a little bit different. There's a bit more complexity there than you would think, and so that's why we're consulting.
KOCH:
Okay, well, that's pretty definite, which is good. Let's go through the others, because you're not being trusted at the moment. You're starting to raid our superannuation, what's next? Can you guarantee no change ever to the capital gains tax exemption on the family home?
CHALMERS:
First of all, as you would understand, Kochie, we put out yesterday a whole bunch of numbers about all of the tax breaks in the system. When we did that, we said that's not a policy statement, it's not a statement of intent. It's just a Treasury summary and analysis of all of those tax breaks. And by announcing our intentions on superannuation yesterday, I think that demonstrated our priorities when it comes to these tax concessions. We haven't been contemplating changes to that one that you identified, but we have –
KOCH:
Not contemplating, okay. That's sort of a weasel word. Can you guarantee –
CHALMERS:
Not intentionally Kochie, I'm trying to be upfront with your viewers –
KOCH:
Okay, so just say yes, that you absolutely guarantee no change ever to the capital gains tax exemption on our family home? You can just say, yes, I guarantee that.
CHALMERS:
Well, I can say to your viewers that we haven't been focused on it. We haven't been working on it. It's not something that we've been working on, its not something we've been contemplating -
KOCH:
Just say yes.
CHALMERS:
Well, I can't commit future governments to changes or otherwise. What we've done with this superannuation change –
KOCH:
Alright, under your as Treasurer –
CHALMERS:
People do recognise, is put it the other side of elections so that we can take it to the people.
KOCH:
Okay, under your reign as Treasurer, you will never change the capital gains tax exemption on the family home?
CHALMERS:
It's not my intention. It's not something I've been thinking about, working up, contemplating –
KOCH:
Just say guarantee.
CHALMERS:
We don't know what the situation might look like in 10 or 15‑years’ time under other governments Kochie.
KOCH:
No, under yours I said. You, personally.
CHALMERS:
I think people understand what my priorities, Kochie, are because I announced the changes to superannuation yesterday with the Prime Minister, and there are a lot of tax breaks in the system. I think people are aware of that, and we put some numbers around that yesterday. But in doing that, we said that we want to change superannuation. It's a modest but meaningful change. We inherited a trillion dollars of debt, and we've got to try and get on top of it, and this is us going about that task.
KOCH:
Alright, Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Thanks for your time.