Embarrassing moment Aussies are fooled by employee who claimed he had $2,999,999 in his super account and quit his job after the $3 million shakeup by the Albanian government
- Professor Patrick Stokes joked about super
- He joked that he quit with $2,999,999 worth of super
- Aussies did not understand the joke and criticized it
Patrick Stokes, associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University in Victoria, joked about the recent changes to super announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday
A philosophy professor who joked that he quit his job because he had “$2,999,999” in pension has been forced to explain the joke after Aussies embarrassingly thought he was serious.
Patrick Stokes, an associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University in Victoria, made the joke in reference to the recent changes to super announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday.
Mr Albanese confirmed that Australians with more than $3 million in their super funds would double their tax rate to 30 per cent from 1 July 2025, up from 15 per cent.
About 80,000 people are expected to be affected by the change, with the average super balance in Australia sitting at a measly $150,000.
“I just got $2,999,999 into my super account and now I’ve lost all incentive to work one more second, our national prosperity be doomed. You have only yourself to blame, Australia,” Dr Stokes tweeted.
Dr. Stokes joked that he would stop working because he had $2,999,999 in his super fund
The professor also joked that he was given a secret elixir to give him an extra 300 years – but people still thought he was serious
“I’m just someone who has worked hard, saved up, wants to enjoy a dignified retirement and has also discovered a secret elixir that gives me 300 extra years of life. We are actually all the same.’
Despite his joke about the magic potion, his super sarcasm was not well received by some Aussies who amazingly believed he was serious and took the opportunity to criticize his apparent display of wealth.
“I think 3mil is a pretty decent pension fund. How long do you plan to live? Most people work hard mate, but few make that kind of money – wake up to yourself,’ someone replied.
“It’s so hard being an ‘upper middle class’ dude these days, with more wealth in your super than 99.5% of your fellow Australians,” said another.
Many Aussies didn’t get the joke and took the opportunity to talk to Dr. Stokes’ display of wealth
One person told the professor to suck it up
Another Twitter user told Dr. Stokes to “stop your bleeding heart story,” while another said “suck it up.”
“Congratulations Patrick, you did well. You will receive a dignified pension. Perhaps you should have built up your wife’s super to compensate for the future changes. You might also think about the people who are not as fortunate as you and who pay for your tax breaks,” said another.
A stunned Dr Stokes was then forced to state plainly that his tweet was just a bit of fun.
“Good evening to the non-trivial number of people who apparently think I really have $3 million in retirement,” he tweeted.
“I literally claimed in my ‘sob story’ that I had a magic potion for longevity and 97 kids and yet I *still* get tweets that assume it’s a genuine complaint.”
He did admit that academics do receive a ‘quite large’ pension.
He also said he believed the changes were “completely reasonable” and if he had millions stashed away he would be happy to pay more in taxes.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Mr Albanese stressed that the favorable 15 per cent tax rate would continue to apply to the 99.5 per cent of Australians with less than $3 million in retirement savings.
