“This next parliamentary sitting fortnight is going to be even bigger. Our government will continue to pursue its legislative agenda in the Senate,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
Minister Chalmers said the government had a very full agenda and that it was looking to progress a number of bills through the Senate.
“There will be a lot of activity, a lot of action over the course of the next couple of weeks,” he said.
SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess told SMSF Adviser that at the end of each sitting year, the government of the day tends to use a guillotine motion to progress stalled legislation.
“This is usually ‘non-controversial’ legislation passed with the support of the Opposition, but the government this year may try to construct a ‘mega-deal’ with the Greens and crossbench Senators to pass a swathe of reforms that have been blocked in the Senate. The $3 million cap bill could be one of the bills being bundled,” Burgess said.
“It would be a tragedy if, because of this rushed and shambolic process, such a deeply flawed measure was passed.”
This follows the admission on Monday from Minister for Agriculture and Small Business, Julie Collins, that if the proposed $3 million super legislation is passed, farmers may have to sell their family farms.
Minister Collins said if the tax on unrealised gains is legislated as part of the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions Bill, even in years with zero or negative income, farmers would have to find the cash to meet liquidity requirements, potentially forcing the sale of family farms.
The Better Targeted Super Concessions Bill was not scheduled for debate in the Senate this week, creating doubt as to whether it would be passed by the end of the parliamentary sitting year.
The government would need 39 seats to pass the bill in its current form in the Senate, and currently only has 25, so would need the support of the Greens to give them 11 seats and three of the six independents, including Jacqui Lambie, One Nation and the United Australia Party.
Rushing critical measures through Parliament, especially those with far-reaching implications like the proposed $3 million superannuation cap, undermines the integrity of the legislative process. Such significant reforms demand thorough debate and scrutiny to ensure they are equitable, practical, and free from unintended consequences. As an auditor myself, I am very skeptical about the reasons Mr. Chalmer’s is keen to rush these measures through Senate.
Using guillotine motions to bypass robust debate on contentious issues erodes public trust in governance. The Senate’s role is to critically assess legislation, not to rubber-stamp policies hastily constructed or poorly conceived. A rushed, “shambolic process” risks enacting deeply flawed laws that could harm Australians for generations.
Parliament must prioritize transparency, stakeholder consultation, and comprehensive review over political expedience. The stakes are too high to get it wrong and the proposed tax will single handedly destroy the retirement planning system in this country for good!!
Remember Kerry Packer’s outraged comment at the Senate enquiry a few years ago: “Why would I pay any more than the minimum tax legally required, when I see how you lot waste the money!”
Big spending government is trying to claw back the “pension phase” tax exemption, as the Baby Boomers are moving into retirement and all those with at least some super and less than $18k in non-super income will cease to pay any income tax for the rest of their lives. Howard and Costello set this up to reward those who self funded their retirement and were not entitled to any aged pension. At that time they were sitting on a huge surplus and the the Federal Balance Sheet was debt free in Net Terms. Since then various governments have run up a huge deficit and debt and are desperate to find new ways to steal more money from the people.
Ramming through unwelcome superannuation measures by hiding them in a mega-package and throwing sweeteners to cross benchers and Greens to get it across the line. Is it any surprise politicians have lost people’s confidence.
“Our government will continue to pursue its legislative agenda”
And what is exactly the ‘agenda’? To destroy the wealth of families, drive up inflation and discourage anyone from workign hard?
Its a socialist agenda. Or simply, Robin Hood agenda. Steal from those that are perceived to have more than they need to give to those that need more than they have.