Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has launched a blistering attack on the Abbott government, labelling the federal government's deal with the Palmer United Party to pause the rise in superannuation contributions at 9.5 per cent until 2021 "wilful sabotage of the nation's universal savings scheme".

The intervention came as Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the deal meant workers would have more money in their pockets that would otherwise have been squirrelled away in superannuation funds, and as Labor attacked the government for effectively reducing Australians' retirement savings.

The pause in superannuation was agreed by the Coalition and the PUP on Tuesday as part of a deal to repeal the mining tax but keep three spending measures associated with the tax - the Schoolkids Bonus, the low-income superannuation contribution and the income support bonus - at cost of $6.5 billion to the budget bottom line.