Arabic version: هيل يهاجم خطة استخدام التقاعد الفائق لمشتري المنازل

According to The Guardian, assistant minister for multiculturalism Julian Hill has sharply criticised a Liberal proposal that would allow first-home buyers to use superannuation to purchase housing, calling it the policy deserving a “gold medal for stupidest policy”.

Superannuation has returned to political debate after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said on Sunday that Australians should be able to access more of their retirement savings before retirement to deal with cost-of-living pressures. Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the Australian Financial Review that the next election would, “at least in part”, be a referendum on super.

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume said on Monday that the Coalition had previously backed allowing first-home buyers to use superannuation for a home purchase, though it had not decided whether to retain the policy at the next election. People can currently access superannuation early only under strict conditions, including for certain compassionate-ground expenses.

Hill said putting superannuation into housing would raise prices while reducing retirement savings. He described a scenario in which two people bid at a Saturday auction and one has withdrawn $30,000 from superannuation, potentially all of their savings from their early 20s. The Coalition policy allowed people to withdraw up to $50,000, or up to 40% of their superannuation balance, to a maximum of $50,000.

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said home ownership was an important pillar of retirement income security. He said the biggest leading indicator of poverty in retirement was renting in retirement, and that modelling on retirement security assumes people own their home. Wilson said Hanson would say what she wanted to say, while maintaining a similar message to Hume on the importance of home ownership.