By Andrew Brown in Canberra
One Nation has denied claims that allowing millions of people to tap into their nest eggs early would cause a rise in inflation.
Pauline Hanson’s party has unveiled proposed measures that would allow workers to divert one quarter of their superannuation contributions towards their rent or mortgage for up to three years.
Employers would still be required to pay 12 per cent superannuation, but super funds would then pay three per cent to people participating.
Under the scheme, someone earning about $90,500 a year would get an extra $44 a week to their income.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce denied claims by economists the scheme would boost inflation and exacerbate cost-of-living concerns.
“If there’s extra money in the economy and you put it into your bank account and don’t spend it, it has no inflationary aspect,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
“Now we have to get economists to decide whether you get access to your own money? I mean, who are the people that have to give the imprimatur for you getting your own money?”
It’s estimated up to seven million people would be able to access their super early under the One Nation scheme.
Mr Joyce did not say whether economic modelling had been carried out on the proposal before it was unveiled.
“We shouldn’t have to model you getting your own money,” he said.
“There’s now the presumption by the socialists that everyone that’s a total moron is going to take money from a good return and take it to a bad return if they don’t need it.”
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the policy would be an unwinding of the entire super system.
“It’s very clear that One Nation hasn’t modelled either that aspect of it or the impact that it will have on people’s ultimate balances,” he told ABC Radio.
“What One Nation is actually asking people to do is to steal from their own future in order to boost their incomes now. It’s a very irresponsible approach.”
Coalition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg said the opposition was not looking at similar policy offerings
“It’s very telling that the treasurer, having destroyed the budget and destroyed the housing system, can’t even bring himself to have this debate,” he told ABC Radio.
“We always have the usual policy reviews and and internal processes that you would expect in a democracy to be undertaken, and that’s ongoing across the board as you would hope.”
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