Farmers have a right to be concerned with the fallout from the Federal Labor Government’s Superannuation reform, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says.

In the wake of Labor’s decision to levy a tax of 30 per cent on earnings from Superannuation funds with balances more than $3 million from 2025, there are fears this could have significant ramifications for farmers.

“Taxation in farming was built on income averaging that recognises changes in year to year income, but Labor’s proposed changes don’t account for this and potentially farmers will suffer with tax on paper-based unrealised gains.”

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones was forced to concede in Parliament this week that his Government would need to further consult with the farming sector.

“Labor broke their election promise to make no changes to Super, now they are conducting policy on the run,” Dr Webster said.

“Why wasn’t this consultation done before the Government decided to interfere with people’s livelihoods?”

Meanwhile, this week the independent Office of Impact Analysis found Treasury had not completed a proper impact analysis on the legislation, therefore requiring the Department to now conduct a review of the legislation after it is introduced.

Treasury estimated that not indexing the $3m threshold meant one per cent of savers would be caught up in the changes by the end of the decade, and 10 per cent in 30 years.

That means young people entering employment may well have a massive tax bill on their mandated super investments.

“Now it’s not only a broken promise by Labor, it is an example of the Government deliberately misleading Australians,” Dr Webster said.

“We  are committed to ensuring that today’s employees are able to manage their super and realise the benefits of doing so over time.

“This is not a Government honeypot, it is money that belongs to people who invest in their future retirement.”