Treasurer would get power to delay super increases under latest mining tax repeal legislation

Updated

The Treasurer would be given control over superannuation rises for Australian workers, under legislation passed by the House of Representatives.

In its fresh attempt to axe the mining tax the Government has introduced another version of its repeal laws to parliament, with a new clause which would give the Treasurer the power to delay increases to superannuation.

The superannuation guarantee increased from 9.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent on July 1 2014.

The previous Labor government announced the rate would continue to increase to 12 per cent by 2019 - a timeframe which was pushed out to 2022 by the Coalition in its May budget.

In the first repeal bill the schedule of increases had to be approved by the Parliament.

A spokeswoman for Treasurer Joe Hockey said he intended to stick to the 2022 deadline, however the Opposition said the new legislation would allow the Government to delay the 12 per cent rate by more than a decade.

The legislation was pushed through the Lower House in about two hours on Monday and Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen told Parliament the new measure was a "disgrace".

"The Treasurer's seeking the right, by legislative fiat, to change the superannuation guarantee without reference to the Parliament," he said.

"If you think we're going to cop that you've got another thing coming."

The change does not seem to have made the legislation any more appealing to the Palmer United Party either.

The crucial crossbench party supports the repeal of the mining tax but is opposed to axing the payments the Government has linked to it, such as the SchoolKids Bonus.

"Ill-conceived mining tax repeal bill won't pass Senate without low income super contribution, income support bonus & the schoolkids bonus," PUP leader Clive Palmer tweeted.

The mining tax was introduced by the previous Labor government, and repealing it is one of the Coalition's key election promises.

Topics: government-and-politics, tax, superannuation, business-economics-and-finance, federal-government, australia

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