>
One of Anthony Albanese’s ministers got himself into a sticky situation with a bizarre comment comparing retirement to ‘darling.’
Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones addressed a convention of self-managed superfunds after the federal government on Thursday and raised plans to overhaul Australia’s retirement savings system.
The Labor government is rethinking tax concessions for the rich and cracking down on rules allowing Australians early access to their super.
Deputy Treasurer Jim Chalmers sparked outrage on Thursday when he compared Australian retirement savings to honey that should be managed “in the best interests of the hive”.
“In the self-managed sector, there are over 600,000 funds that have around $870 billion in retirement savings, that’s a lot of honey,” Mr Jones said at the retirement convention in Melbourne.
scroll down for video
Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured with his wife Laura) and the federal government have been criticized for plans to overhaul the retirement system.
“We want to make sure there is plenty of honey for everyone.”
He ended his speech with a final cheesy metaphor as he urged Australians to join the government’s national conversation on targeting retirement.
“You could even say that if we get this right, it will help ensure that retirement is in the public policy spotlight,” said Mr. Jones.
His choice of words sparked widespread outrage and led his spokesperson to later tell NewsCorp that the metaphor was simply a reference to the “bees” theme of this year’s conference.
Australia is home to 16 million retirement accounts with a collective value of $3.3 trillion, with self-managed funds accounting for 600,000 of that, worth $870 billion.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton led the outrage by accusing Jones of treating supers like ‘honey to be raided’.
‘The government is now describing your retirement balance, your hard-earned money, as ‘honey’ to be raided. This is a deeply concerning development,’ she said.
‘It’s a catchy metaphor for a deceitful government. It’s chaos, and the Prime Minister should simply honor his pre-election commitment: not change his super.
Dutton’s Liberal MP Sussan Ley accused Labor of breaking an election promise.
Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones referred to Australians’ retirement savings as honey (file image)
The assistant treasurer’s comments have self-funded retirees now worried about their savings (file image)
“The government said before the election that it had no intention of changing the pension,” he told Sunrise on Friday.
“They pitched the idea earlier this week and now they seem to be joking about it, calling it a honeypot to be raided for the things they want to spend it on instead of fiscal responsibility and managing the economy in a way that protects the retirement income of Australians who have worked very, very hard.’
He added that he has met many self-funded retirees who are now worried about their savings.
“I don’t know if anyone in Labor can explain to me what it really is and that’s the problem, they’re talking about it like it’s honey to raid and share,” Ms Ley said.
“It’s not sweetie, it’s not fun and we really need the government to deliver on its election promises.”
Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones has been criticized for his poor choice of words on retirement savings.
Education Minister Jason Clare repeatedly tried to deflect the question when asked by Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr if his ministerial colleague used a poor choice of words.
I will use my words. Our retirement accounts are there today thanks to the Labor Party. We created it,’ he said.
‘The awful truth is that for most Australians, they have less money in their super today than they should because of the Liberal Party under Howard and Abbott, they froze the super, which means we got less than we should.
‘I am not going to copy the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party on retirement. We created it, built for Australians. Whenever liberals get a chance, it’s taken away.
Industry leaders were also puzzled by Jones’s metaphor.
‘If it’s a hive of honey, who is it for? It sounds like you’re talking about workers bringing in honey for the entire hive, not just their individual accounts,” said Independent Retirees Association director John Ritchie.
Australians making up to $250,000 a year can deposit up to $27,500 a year into their super and pay a favorable tax rate of 15%, which is well below the marginal tax rate of 45% for someone making more than $180,000 .
But those concessionary tax rates are costing the budget $53 billion a year and Dr. Chalmers suggested he would overhaul sweeteners for those with more than $3 million in super savings.
Australia is home to 16 million retirement accounts with a collective value of $3.3 trillion, with self-managed funds accounting for 600,000 of that, worth $870 billion (image is a file image)