Barnaby Submits Super-Raiding Policy Costings To Treasury Via SMS

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

Lingering questions have been answered this week as One Nation's freshly minted Treasury spokesperson has finally submitted the party's controversial super-raiding policy for costing.

Party leader and shadow treasurer Barnaby Joyce fired off a string of SMS messages to the Treasury's costings department yesterday afternoon from out the front of the Walcha Road Hotel in the NSW New England.

One Nation’s proposed "super-raiding" policy would let eligible renters and mortgage holders temporarily redirect part of their future compulsory superannuation contributions into their take-home pay for up to three years, instead of having all of that money invested for their retirement. The idea is to give people more cash now to help with housing and cost-of-living pressures right now, while critics from the uniparty system argue that even a temporary reduction in super contributions could leave workers with significantly less retirement savings later because they would miss out on years of compound investment growth.

"But that won't be our problem," Joyce admitted to this masthead this morning during a wide-ranging telephone call.

"It is a problem for future governments. Which is how government operates. But these people aren't everyone, they're workers who are struggling the most right now. It's their money and they deserve to spend it right now on things like their rent or mortgage repayments or whatever. I don't care if they spend it on flavoured condoms or smokes, it's not my business, is it?"

"It won't be inflationary because it's going to essentials, like paying someone else's mortgage or their own. It will go on groceries and things to keep people alive. These people spend their money, they don't put it in a diversified share portfolio of ETFs and punts on speccy miners you get from lobbyists, uh, you know what I mean. These people spend frivolously in the economy and keep it going when times are tough. Poor people spend money like water, that's why they're poor. Without this underclass of modern peasantry, capitalism grinds to a halt."

Treasury is yet to acknowledge receipt of One Nation's policy submission, but it is still early in Canberra.

More to come.