Parties trade blows over possible super changes

Published: 06:43:54 AM, Thu 07 February 2013 UTC

The Federal Opposition is continuing to put pressure on the Government to reveal what changes it is considering making to superannuation in the May budget.

The Prime Minister yesterday ruled out taxing withdrawals on super for those over 60, but in Question Time today Nationals Leader Warren Truss asked Julia Gillard what changes were being ruled in.

"Will she make a commitment as the Coalition has done to make no unexpected adverse changes to superannuation?" he said.

There are reports the Government is looking to increase the tax rates on super for the wealthy.

Ms Gillard did not reveal any plans, instead turning the attack on the Opposition and its plans to reintroduce a tax on super for low income earners, which was scrapped as compensation for the carbon tax.

She accused the Opposition of targeting the super of Australia's lowest paid workers, including more than 2 million women.

"When you've already hacked into 3.6 million Australians, I'm not surprised that you've then said no further changes.

"The evil work's already been announced.

"They may be the kind of target the Leader of the Opposition aims at, but for us, we believe in benefiting working women, benefiting low income Australians."

Superannuation concessions cost the Government tens of billions of dollars each year.

For the first parliamentary week of the year, the personal attacks and often nastiness that dominated last year's parliament has been mostly missing, replaced instead by purely policy-dominated questions from the Opposition.

And today it was on the policy front the Coalition found itself in hot water, with its leaders spending the day playing down a leaked report on the Coalition's .

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