The superannuation system is Pauline Hanson\u2019s latest target.<\/p>\n
The One Nation<\/a> leader has made it clear that her party backs looser rules around how Australians can access their retirement savings.<\/p>\n In a cost-of-living crisis, she argues it\u2019s not right to force people to save for the future when they can\u2019t make ends meet today.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people, you know, who need these [medical] operations can\u2019t get access to their superannuation to have that done,\u201d Hanson claimed this week. \u201cSuperannuation should be lightened up a bit so people can utilise this money in times of crisis. It is their money.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, in response said the Coalition would revisit whether Australians should be able to get access to their retirement savings early \u2013 albeit for the narrower purpose of helping buy a first home.<\/p>\n Hume added: \u201cI do think that superannuation is highly valued by Australians, it\u2019s not something that you need in your working life, it\u2019s something you need in your retired life.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked, Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, has repeatedly pointed out that there are already ways for people to pull from their retirement for compassionate reasons or due to financial hardship.<\/p>\n So what are the rules, and should they be \u201clightened up a bit\u201d?<\/p>\n Who can withdraw from their superannuation?<\/p>\n You can apply to the Australian Taxation Office to dip into your savings early for \u201ccompassionate\u201d reasons, as long as you meet strict rules.<\/p>\n The ATO lists five main grounds of eligibility:<\/p>\n medical treatment or transport for you or your dependant;<\/p>\n accommodating a disability for you or your dependant;<\/p>\n palliative care for a terminal illness for you or your dependant;<\/p>\n funeral expenses for your dependant; and<\/p>\n preventing foreclosure or the forced sale of your home.<\/p>\n For medical treatment, access can be for treating a life-threatening injury or illness, or alleviating acute or chronic pain or mental illness.<\/p>\n You may also qualify for early access for \u201csevere financial hardship\u201d \u2013 for example, if you are on income support and cannot pay for urgent living expenses.<\/p>\n You apply directly to your super fund for up to $10,000 and to qualify you must have been receiving an eligible income support payment for at least six months and have no other way of paying.<\/p>\n You can apply for this once a year.<\/p>\n Bob Breunig, the director of the ANU\u2019s tax and transfer policy institute, does not agree with suggestions that rules around early release should be loosened.<\/p>\n \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t allow early release,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cSuper does two really good things. First, it forces people to save who would not otherwise save.\u201d<\/p>\n The second is that it has delivered us a fiscally sustainable retirement system at a time when other countries, especially in places like Europe, are struggling to pay for the pensions of rapidly ageing populations.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of those countries would happily take our system, and we don\u2019t want theirs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n