‘I'm not commenting': Anthony Albanese refuses to respond to Paul Keating's latest criticism plan to double superannuation tax
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to respond to Paul Keating's latest criticism of Labor's unrealised gains tax, telling Sky News Australia he was 'not commenting' on the various things other people had said.
The Albanese government is proposing to double the tax on superannuation accounts with a balance of more than $3 million. The tax would also apply to unrealised capital gains, meaning the government would be taxing perceived wealth rather than actual income.
Labor has defended the scheme by pointing out the tax would only apply to a tiny number of Australian superannuation accounts, but former Labor prime minister and superannuation architect Paul Keating took a veiled swipe at the proposal on Monday.
Mr Keating said 'every young person joining the workforce this year' will have accumulated 'in excess of $3 million at retirement'.
When asked about whether the former Labor leader was right in his calculations, Prime Minister Albanese simply praised Mr Keating's creation of the superannuation system.
'Paul Keating is right to support superannuation, and it's a creation of the Hawke and Keating Labor governments (and) Paul Keating, of course, as treasurer, then as prime minister, championed superannuation to improve retirement incomes for Australians,' he told Sky News Australia.
First Edition host Pete Stefanovic again asked Mr Albanese whether Mr Keating was right that the average worker would eventually be caught up in the tax.
'Well, these are very modest changes discussed,' Mr Albanese said.
Stefanovic pressed the Prime Minister, asking, 'But is Paul Keating right? I'm on Paul keating now,' leading to a terse response.
'Well, good on you. You stay on Paul, I'll stay on superannuation,' Mr Albanese said
Asked if he was avoiding it because Mr Keating was right, the Prime Minister said he was 'talking about superannuation and our superannuation guarantee being lifted to 12 per cent'.
Stefanovic then asked whether Labor was at least open to indexing the threshold at which the tax would be imposed, pointing out ACTU Secretary Sally McManus had called for this on Tuesday morning.
'I'm not commenting on various things that you tell me other people have said,' Mr Albanese responded.
Mr Keating is reportedly furious at the Albanese government over its proposal to tax unrealised gains, with the Australian Financial Review reporting last year that the former Labor leader had called the changes 'unconscionable'.
Keating-era ACTU secretary Bill Kelty – who also played a role in the creation of the Superannuation system - has similarly hit out at the changes, describing them as 'flawed' and 'bad policy'.
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