A left-wing think tank led by Greens advisers demanded a crackdown on pension tax breaks just weeks before the Labor government made an announcement.
Ben Oquist, former chief of staff to Greens leader Bob Brown, served as executive director of The Australia Institute for seven years until July.
He is also married to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
Mr. Oquist’s successor, Richard Denniss, was a senior strategic advisor to Mr. Brown prior to his appointment as executive director.
The Australia Institute argued on Feb. 3 that the favorable 15 percent tax rate on super contributions costs $52.6 billion a year and would exceed the annual old-age pension bill.
“New research shows that the cost to the federal budget of generous retirement tax breaks is now equal to the cost of the full retirement pension, and higher than the total cost of the full NDIS in 2022-2023,” it said.
“The annual cost of super-tax breaks ($52.6 billion) is comparable to the value of the entire old age pension program ($55.3 billion).”
A left-wing think tank once led by a former Greens adviser demanded a crackdown on pension tax breaks just weeks before the Labor government made an announcement (former Australia Institute director Ben Oquist is pictured with his wife, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young)
Unsurprisingly, the Australia Institute welcomed Labour’s announcement on Tuesday, even though Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) promised no pension changes ahead of the May 2022 election.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his assistant Stephen Jones released a Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement on Tuesday with very similar rules.
“Forgotten income from retirement tax breaks is about $50 billion a year,” they said.
‘The costs of these concessions are expected to exceed the costs of the retirement pension by 2050.’
The government statement also discussed the costs of the National Office for Disability.
“Since joining the government, we have been outspoken about the challenges facing the economy and the budget,” it said.
“We inherited a trillion-dollar debt and mounting pressures on defense, healthcare, elder care and NDIS spending.”
Unsurprisingly, the Australia Institute welcomed Labour’s announcement on Tuesday, even though Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised no pension changes ahead of the May 2022 election.
“The Prime Minister’s and Treasurer’s changes to super tax breaks announced today are a welcome step towards fairness and sustainability for Australia’s pension income system,” it said.
Mr. Oquist’s successor, Richard Denniss (pictured), was a senior strategic advisor to Mr. Brown before being appointed Executive Director
But Mr Denniss said Labor needed to do more.
“The costly and unfair tax breaks for multi-million dollar super accounts are long overdue,” he said.
“While this is a great first step, more reforms are needed to ensure fairness and sustainability in Australia’s pension income system.”
The Australian Institute has been a campaigner for 15 years against the favorable 15 percent super-contribution tax rate that debuted in 2006 under Liberal treasurer Peter Costello.
Mr Oquist served as executive director from 2015 to 2022 and in June 2015 had tweeted his support for Greens senators Richard Di Natale, the party’s former leader, and Rachel Siewert for pushing for a review of pension tax benefits.
“Positive step from Richard Di Natale and Senator Siewert: Progressive pension reform good and pension tax review essential,” he said.
In April 2021, he tweeted a Guardian article about a report by The Australian Institute on pensions that said, ‘Men receive “too big” benefits from big tax breaks.”
The Australia Institute released a report in 2014 by Matt Grudnoff on the super benefits titled ‘A super waste of money’.
Not only are super-tax breaks becoming a burden on the budget, but it is clear that they are increasingly being used as a way for high-income households to avoid tax rather than as a retirement support measure. declaration.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers released a Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement this week with very similar rules to an Australia Institute press release from early February
Labour’s former shadow treasurer Chris Bowen had complained in 2015 about the cost of the supercontribution concessions, but the ALP had not announced a formal policy proposal until this week.
Labour’s previous prime ministers, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, had not changed the super-tax policy.
The Australia Institute has a slogan: ‘We are changing our minds.’
Labor is proposing an end to the favorable 15 per cent tax rate on super contributions for the 80,000 Australians – or 0.5 per cent of the population – with more than $3 million in retirement savings.
Mr Oquist and Mr Denniss are not the only heads of The Australia Institute with connections to Greens.
Founder Clive Hamilton, a professor who was Executive Director from 1993 to 2008, ran for the Greens in the December 2009 Higgins by-election in inner-east Melbourne.
That was fueled by the political retirement of Mr. Costello, the treasurer who introduced super’s favorable 15 percent tax rate.
