Australia’s right-wing One Nation party proposes pension shake-up to boost take-home pay

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Australia’s hard-right One Nation party, which has surged in recent polls, on Monday proposed redirecting a portion of people’s future pension contributions to ​take-home pay, a move criticised by the ruling centre-left ‌Labor party.

People who pay rent or a mortgage should be able to choose to shift one-quarter of their future compulsory pension contributions to their pay packets for up to three years, with the extra pay taxed under concessional rates ‌instead ​of the higher personal rate, One Nation ⁠leader Pauline Hanson said.

“One ⁠Nation wants to give people some breathing room … you get more of your own money in your pocket when you need it,” Hanson said in a statement.

A full-time worker earning about ​A$90,500 ($65,232) in a year would receive around A$2,300 more after tax under One Nation’s policy, Hanson said. Employers would continue to ⁠make the compulsory 12% contribution.

Founded in 1997, ⁠One Nation was long seen as a fringe ​party, but Hanson’s hard line on immigration has drawn more support in ​recent polls.

A widely watched Newspoll by The Australian newspaper, ‌released on August 30, showed One Nation’s primary vote up 1 point to 30% compared to the previous poll, ahead of Labor at 29% and the opposition Liberal-National Coalition at 19%.

Higher living costs, largely ⁠driven by rising fuel prices, have squeezed families, with voters ranking living expenses along with immigration as their top priorities in polls.

Treasurer Jim ⁠Chalmers called One Nation’s ‌policy “a full-frontal attack” on the retirement savings of ⁠workers, and said the next national election, expected ​in ‌2028, would be a referendum on Australia’s pension ​sector, which ⁠is worth about A$4.5 trillion.

“(This is) a recipe to make Australian workers tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement,” he said, adding that the losses from compound interest will outweigh the policy’s short-term financial benefits.

($1 = 1.3873 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing ​by Edwina Gibbs)