Senator Larissa Waters says the Greens are giving the government an opportunity to act. Photo: AAP
The Greens are pushing for superannuation payments on paid parental leave in exchange for supporting the Albanese government’s tax changes aimed at wealthy retirees.
Greens spokesperson for women Larissa Waters confirmed the party would support the Labor legislation, which will increase tax on high super balances, if the government met its demands on paid parental leave.
Senator Waters said the bill was the perfect opportunity to add superannuation to Commonwealth-paid parental leave.
She said women, who tend to disproportionately bear caring responsibility, were “retiring into poverty”.
“With a stroke of a pen, the government could fix that,” she told ABC radio on Friday.
The Greens plan to use their balance of power in the Senate to nudge the government over the line, with the opposition already ruling out its support for the super tax concessions.
The federal government has signalled its interest in paying super to paid parental leave, but budget constraints have stopped Labor from taking action.
Senator Waters said the measure would be “relatively cheap” in the context of government expenditure, amounting to about $200 million a year.
She said the Greens were giving the government an opportunity to act.
“They’ve said it’s a priority. Well, great, do it,” Senator Waters said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said if the Greens supported tax reform to make concessions less generous for people with millions of dollars in super, they should vote for it.
“We’ve already extended paid parental leave as part of a multibillion-dollar agenda to support women’s economic opportunity,” Dr Chalmers said.
“We’ve already made it clear for some time that we intend to act on the super guarantee on paid parental leave when budget circumstances permit – that remains the case and we’ve said so publicly and repeatedly.
“The Greens should stop playing their usual political games, stop opposing tax reform for offshore gas and the wealthiest people in the super system, stop siding with the Liberals, and support our changes, which help fund big new investments in Medicare and housing.”
Under the plan, super balances above $3 million would be taxed at a higher rate. The government estimates the change would affect about 80,000 super accounts.
The changes are expected to bring in an extra $2 billion each year by the end of the decade.
Legislation for the tax change is expected to come before Parliament before the end of the year.
– with AAP
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