Stephen Jones stumbles through trainwreck parliament performance on superannuation

Jim Chalmer’s deputy has been tripped up during a trainwreck appearance in parliament where he was mocked for not answering straight questions about super.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones was besieged during Question Time on Thursday after struggling through Wednesday’s session.

The opposition identified the secretary of state as a “weak link” in Anthony Albanese’s team after he struggled to succinctly explain the government’s pension changes.

So on Thursday, he was peppered with six questions about technical aspects of the plan to cut tax breaks in half from 15 to 30 percent for Australians with more than $3 million in their super fund.

Mr. Jones’ answers were largely an improvement on Wednesday’s, although at one point an employee had to walk a note into the room to help him.

However, he stumbled when asked if he could identify an Act of Parliament containing a provision to tax unrealized gains.

“The purpose of our change is to ensure that we maintain the integrity of our pension system. we will make sure that as we implement our pension scheme reforms…” he said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton was unimpressed by Mr Jones’ talk and harassed him from his seat.

“Can this man answer a straightforward question? He has no idea… if he doesn’t know, take it to heart,” he said.

Speaker Milton Dick interrupted Mr Jones and warned him that he had been asked a very specific question and that he must answer it.

‘This is a new reform, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s absolutely true that we do things differently…’ he continued, before Mr. Dutton rose to complain.

The Leader of the Opposition again demanded that Mr Jones answer the question but was told to sit down as Mr Dick had already told the Assistant Treasurer to stay on topic seconds before.

Deputy Secretary of State Tim Watts shouted ‘well done, Dutts’ to Mr Dutton and was immediately ejected from the room.

Mr. Jones eventually said the answer was corporate tax.

But trainwreck question time continued shortly afterwards when Mr Jones was asked ‘whether the capital gains tax credit usually applicable to assets held within retirement age is available for realized or unrealized gains under the government’s new super-tax? ‘

He tried to dodge the question by arguing ‘as an unlicensed financial advisor I can’t give financial advice either here or anywhere else’.

An exasperated Mr. Dutton interrupted for a point of order, which was really an excuse to put the boot in Mr. Jones’ shoes.

“I’ve been here 22 years, I thought I heard everything,” he said before being told by Mr Dick.

The past two question times, held in the absence of the prime minister on a tour of India, have been hailed by observers as some of the worst of all time.

The opposition has relentlessly attacked Mr Albanese’s plan to cut tax breaks for Australians with superfunds of more than $3 million.

A poll showed two-thirds of voters support the changes, which would tax super contributions at 30 per cent for some 80,000 Australians instead of 15 per cent.

Many have asked hypothetical questions about how the changes might affect different groups, most recently focusing on Australians who own their businesses through their pension fund.

Mr Dutton claims Labor is pursuing a ‘socialist’ agenda with its pension changes and is leading Australia into a ‘dark place’.

He accused the Albanian government of money laundering against “ambitious Australians who have worked all their lives”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed Dutton’s “ridiculous scare campaign” as “hyperventilating exaggeration” that made him worse than disgraced former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.