Chalmers warns of Hanson threat to super after One Nation leader calls system ‘broken’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has thrown down the gauntlet over compulsory superannuation, vowing to defend the scheme after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she wanted Australians to be able to dip into their retirement savings early .

The $4.5 trillion sector – twice the size of the economy – is the largest source of private cash savings in Australia and is designed to alleviate pressure on the federal budget by enabling Australians to support themselves in retirement.

Liberal deputy Jane Hume tried to redirect the focus to housing policy on Monday after her colleague Andrew Bragg provoked the compulsory super stoush last week by declaring it “one of the biggest public policy failures since federation” and likening super for teens to super for cats and dogs.

Chalmers sounded the alarm on Monday, framing the debate as existential to Australians’ economic security and accusing his political opponents of seeking to destroy the system.

“The stakes are high at the next election for a whole range of reasons, and one of them now is the future of Australia’s world-leading compulsory superannuation system,” Chalmers said as he arrived at Parliament House.

“The Liberals, the Nationals, and One Nation would end compulsory superannuation as we know it. Their policy and their ideology on super would absolutely decimate the economic security and retirement incomes of millions of Australian workers.

“They share a dangerous and divisive anti-worker, anti-super ideology, and if this plays out after the next election, Australian workers will be much worse off.”

Chalmers said the existing allowances for Australians to withdraw their super early were well considered and available for people in genuine hardship.

“For good reason, those arrangements are limited, and those arrangements are very focused.”

Hanson joined the fray on Sunday, arguing super “should be lightened up a bit” so Australians can withdraw money to put a deposit down on a home or in times of crisis.

“In some ways, I feel that you should give them their money now and ... help them with the cost of living. It is their money. They’ve sacrificed it in lieu of pay, so in a lot of cases people want it,” Hanson told News24.

Compulsory superannuation contributions are paid as part of an employee’s salary. However, Hanson suggested that people spent their super and still ended up on the aged pension.

Hanson was forced to clarify her position in a post on social media, saying she was not calling for an end to compulsory super but that Australians “should be able to access their money more easily if they need it for a house, medical needs or other costs”.

One Nation treasury spokesman, Barnaby Joyce, said on Monday the existing exemptions allowing early access to retirement savings were not enough.