with
STEPHEN JONES MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES
MEMBER FOR WHITLAM

New data shows that a million more Australians than anticipated have been forced to raid their retirement savings in the latest failure of the Morrison Government’s wildly botched, rorted and frauded early access super scheme.
 
The Commonwealth Treasury initially estimated that 1.5 million people would access their superannuation savings, but new data today has established that 2.5 million people have applied to withdraw $19 billion.
 
When asked about the Federal Government’s utter failure to anticipate the demand of millions of desperate Australians today, the Treasurer claimed “we’ve got it so right”.
 
This gaffe-prone Treasurer’s latest stuff up will cost millions of Australians for decades to come.
 
After the biggest budget blunder in Australian history with the JobKeeper program, and in the face of rising community anxiety about the Morrison Government’s lack of a plan for the recovery, it’s no wonder that uncertainty is driving a record number of Australians to raid their hard-earned retirement savings.
 
The Liberals have tried time and time again to gut the incomes of retirees and pensioners by cutting the pension, trying to increase the pension age to 70, and delaying the increase to the Superannuation Guarantee.
 
Too many Australians retire with insufficient retirement savings which is why our world class super system needs to be strengthened and protected, not undermined.
 
Attacks on the pension and superannuation are in their DNA.
 
MONDAY, 6 JULY 2020