Minister grilled after old video emerges

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has slammed the government’s “reckless” changes to the national superannuation policy after an old video appeared to show his previous support for the move.

Appearing on ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday, Mr Taylor criticised the government’s announcement that it would increase the concession rate for Australians with more than $3m in their super accounts.

From July 1, 2025, those with millions in super savings will be hit with a concession rate of 30 per cent – double the current rate of 15 per cent – if the proposed legislation passes parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers estimated the proposed changes would only affect 80,000 Australians, or 0.5 per cent of the workforce.

Mr Taylor told Insiders host David Speers that the estimate was “clearly very, very wrong” and “complete rot”.

“This policy is flawed, in some respects reckless and it will have a far bigger reach, much bigger reach than Labor is pretending here,” he said.

The government has ruled out changes to the concessional tax rate for the remaining 99.5 per cent of the population, but the Shadow Treasurer maintained younger Australians would be disadvantaged in the long term.

“If I’m investing as a 20-year-old, it will be close to 50 years before I get access to that money and the way that is treated along the way is hugely important,” he told the Insiders host.

In a fiery exchange, the Shadow Treasurer was pressed on whether he thought Australians with millions of dollars should only pay 15 per cent tax on their earnings.

“You‘re asking me if I support this policy. I reject it …. I support the current policy,” he told Mr Speers after repeatedly trying to dodge the question.

The stance appears to contradict a view Mr Taylor held seven years ago, when he wholeheartedly backed increasing super tax for wealthy Australians.

During a morning television show panel in 2016, the now-Shadow Treasurer exclaimed: “it’s totally inappropriate that somebody who has contributed millions and millions of dollars continues to get the 15 per cent concessional rate.”

However, Mr Taylor denied backflipping on his convictions.

“Context is important,” he said.

“This is a different policy and it‘s so important to understand that.”

He accused the government of breaking a “cast iron election promise” that they would not tamper with the super scheme.

“People are very sensitive about superannuation,” Mr Taylor told Insiders.

“When a government says they will do one thing and does something completely different, when the money is locked away and I can‘t get access to it, it is a very, very significant breach of trust.”

The Coalition has vowed to repeal the changes if they win the next federal election, which would cost the economy approximately $2bn a year.

The Shadow Treasurer accused the government of looking to super after it “lost all discipline” in terms of managing the federal budget.

The Insiders panel noted the government was looking to regain billions of dollars for the budget by taxing the super of the highest earning Australians, as opposed to the previous Liberal government’s controversial approach of using Robodebt to rake in millions from the country’s most vulnerable residents.