A majority of voters have backed Anthony Albanese’s controversial plan to slug millionaires with super balances worth over $3 million a year into paying more tax.
Newspoll has found that a whopping 70 per cent of voters under the age of 50 give the plan the tick of approval.
Despite claims it represents a super-sized broken promise, The Australian’s respected pollster suggests voters think otherwise and backed the move.
A large majority – 64 per cent – approved of the policy.
Almost two-thirds of voters across all age groups approved of the plan to double the concessional tax rate.
Voters aged over 50s were more likely to be worried about it, but even among the oldies a clear majority – 60 per cent – approved.
By comparison, less than one in three Australian voters polled – 29 per cent – had a bee in their bonnet about the changes that are expected to raise $2 billion from 80,000 millionaires.
A whopping 80 per cent of Labor voters approved of the policy.
Even a majority of Coalition voters backed the policy, despite the fact opposition leader Peter Dutton is vowing to repeal it if he wins the next election.
However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s personal popularity has taken a modest hit suggesting some voters are concerned about the broken promise and his performance more generally.
Mr Albanese’s satisfaction score tumbled again for the second consecutive survey, dropping two points to 55 per cent.
He’s dropped seven points since the post-election honeymoon of 62 per cent.
The performance of opposition leader Peter Dutton is flatlining, with a one-point fall in net approval rating of minus 11.
The Coalition’s primary vote is up one point to 35 per cent. Labor dropped a point to 37 per cent.
On a two party preferred basis Labor remains in front by a margin of 54-46 per cent
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Sunday that the majority of voters understood the super tax changes would not impact them at all.
“This is a modest change, but a really simple choice. This is a modest change that only affects half a per cent of Australians,” he said.
“There will still be generous tax concessions for everybody in the system, but a little bit less generous for people with more than $3m in their superannuation accounts – and it doesn’t come in until after the next election.”
Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor stressed the broken promise and warned the failure to index the $3 million super threshold meant that over decades more workers would be hit by the changes.
Mr Taylor has previously suggested that hitting the rich was just the start.
“It’s a Trojan horse government that just want to get into power and do what they want to do without being upfront with the Australian people,” he said.
Mr Albanese has denied breaking any election pledges.
“‘No it’s not,” he told ABC radio.
“It very clearly takes effect after the next election, and what we’re doing here is a very modest change.
“This is a modest change about improving the sustainability of the system.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has suggested critics should suck it up.
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“People have got a couple of years to prepare for it,” he said.
“I think it’s entirely appropriate we legislate it before [the election].
“If Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor want to go to the wall for these half a per cent of people with very large superannuation balances, the party that gave us a trillion dollars in debt wants to borrow even more money to give for these unaffordable tax breaks [it can].”
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