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🇦🇺 Australia /Economy & Trade

Pressed to explain super policy, Joyce says he is “not Jesus Christ”

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • One Nation proposes allowing working Australians who pay rent or a mortgage to divert part of their superannuation into take-home pay for up to three years.
  • Barnaby Joyce defended access to personal savings but did not provide modelling on the proposal's potential inflationary effects.
  • Critics warn the plan could offer short-term relief while increasing inflation over time, while Joyce said people would decide whether using the money made financial sense.

Barnaby Joyce struggled to explain the financial consequences of One Nation's proposal to let Australians access part of their retirement savings, telling an interviewer: “I'm the Treasury spokesman, not Jesus Christ.”

The scheme would allow working Australians who pay rent or hold a mortgage to divert a portion of their superannuation into take-home pay for as long as three years. The money would retain the favorable tax treatment attached to super savings. One Nation says the measure would give people struggling with living costs some “breathing room.”

I'm the Treasury spokesman, not Jesus Christ. I mean, you have to actually give me the details of these things, if you got to put them forward to me.

· Barnaby JoyceJoyce used the remark while being pressed on the policy's effect on retirement savings and its financial details.

The proposal has drawn warnings that it could provide a short-term sugar hit while increasing inflation in the longer term. During questioning on Tuesday, Joyce avoided providing modelling of those effects and instead argued that Australians should be able to access their own money.

“When people say you've got to model it, you're saying, so I have to model whether someone gets access to their own money,” he said. “The implications that I have to model you getting your own money, I find a little bit perverse. It is actually your money.”

Asked about the effect on retirement savings over time, Joyce said he understood the policy but needed its details. “I'm the Treasury spokesman, not Jesus Christ. I mean, you have to actually give me the details of these things, if you got to put them forward to me,” he told 7.30 on Monday.

When people say you've got to model it, you're saying, so I have to model whether someone gets access to their own money.

· Barnaby JoyceHe challenged questions about economic modelling of the proposal's inflationary impact.

Joyce argued that the funds were already circulating through the economy because superannuation companies invest them. If people used the money for rent or mortgage payments, he said, they would be meeting expenses they already had. He added that money left in a bank account would not add to inflation.

The proposal would not include means testing. Joyce said “People are not stupid” and would not move money from a good return to a worse one unless they needed it.

People are not stupid.

· Barnaby JoyceJoyce argued that Australians could decide whether accessing their superannuation served their interests.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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