Chalmers Says Next Election Will Be ‘Referendum on Super’ After One Nation Plan

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has framed the next election as a “referendum on super” in response to a new One Nation proposal that would allow wage earners to tap into their future super contributions to help cover rent or pay off their mortgages.

Under the One Nation policy, eligible workers could choose to redirect one-quarter of their future compulsory super contributions. That would be equivalent to 3 percent of the mandatory 12 percent rate.

The money would be added to their take-home pay for up to three years. The remaining 9 percent would stay in their super fund, while employers would still pay the full 12 percent.

The diverted portion would be taxed at the concessional super rate of 15 percent rather than normal income tax rates.

The conservative-leaning party estimates a full-time worker earning around $90,500 (US$65,000) a year would receive about $2,300 extra after tax each year.

The policy would not affect people’s existing super balances.

However, Chalmers criticised One Nation’s approach, saying it would leave Australians worse off.

“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,” he told reporters.

“Let’s be really clear: the next election will be a referendum on super.”

In a separate post to X, Chalmers said One Nation’s plan would “end superannuation as we know it.”

“One Nation is anti-super because One Nation is anti-worker. You can’t be pro-worker and anti-super. This is exactly why One Nation poses an unacceptable and dangerous risk to Australian workers,” he said.

Chalmers’s remarks were echoed by Health Minister Mark Butler, who described One Nation’s plan as “absolutely terrible.”

“We had an experiment on this through COVID where people withdrew money from their super at the invitation of the Morrison government—it’s going to make a huge difference, a bad difference to their retirement income decades down the track and we don’t support this,” he told ABC Radio.

In response, One Nation Leader Hanson said Chalmers was “acting hysterically” over a change that would help people under cost of living pressure.

She also criticised the treasurer over his management of the economy since Labor came into power.

“And there’s nothing more anti-worker than presiding over four years of falling real wages,” Hanson said on Sept. 7.