Aged Pension, page-43

Andrews !0,
Go back to your figures above.

The concessions to that old fart like the one you describe , are considerably greater than the aged pension.

So , if you abolished the tax free status of post 60 superannuation [ tax withdrawals at marginal rate with a rebate for tax paid] taxed the aged pension , got rid of sapto , had a reasonable benefits limit [about 1,6mill ] , it would be much cheaper to extend the pension than leave the status quo.
I would be a net loser by the way.

Now if you could add in a few other items earlier on , like a 15% rebate for super contributions rather than a tax deduction , then the pension payments really become peanuts.

In the end , a trade off of severe tightening the super system , and a broadening of the aged pension system has a chance of getting through politically [ mainly because the people at the low end of super the big beneficiaries] .
And to be financially viable in the long term , retirement income taxation needs to change.

I confess to the private health rebate.