The opposition is branding changes to superannuation tax as an attack on aspirational Australians, as the treasurer says the new rate is modest.
The concessional tax rate applied to future earnings for balances above $3 million will be lifted from 15 per cent to 30 per cent from 2025/26.
It will impact about 80,000 Australians and is expected to raise $2 billion in the first full year and $3.2 billion over five years.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the changes are modest and responsible economic management.
"The changes are about making superannuation more sustainable by making the tax breaks more affordable," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition would repeal the legislation if it came to power.
"We're dead against it. We're not going to stand by and watch Australians attacked," he told reporters in Melbourne.
Mr Dutton said the government's language about minor changes didn't mean anything to hardworking Australians who put their money into super.
"Every Australian should be unsettled by what Labor is doing at the moment," he said.
"The first change will be on higher-income Australians. The next change will be on people on the next rung down and the next rung down after that."
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the government wasn't being honest about the number of Australians the change would impact with the $3 million threshold not indexed and more people creeping above it as inflation rises.
"This is an attack on aspirational middle Australia," he told reporters in Canberra.
"The Labor Party should be honest about how many Australians who are investing 20, 30, even 40 years ahead of their retirement will really be affected."
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said the government's pledge to not have the new rules apply retrospectively wasn't good enough
She said the legislation won't be grandfathered, affecting people who invested in the past under the old rules and hadn't realised their gains yet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ruled out any further changes to superannuation this term.
Mr Albanese said it was hard to argue super accounts with balances of $3 million or more were about "actual retirement incomes".
"Most Australians would be quite surprised that there are 17 Australians who have over $100 million in their superannuation accounts, and one has over $400 million," he told ABC radio.
"Most Australians will would agree that's not what superannuation is for."
He also ruled out scrapping capital gains tax exemptions on the family home to raise more revenue.
Mr Taylor called on the government to also categorically rule out any changes to negative gearing after the treasurer said it "isn't something the government is considering".
Dr Chalmers says the government had struck the right balance with the $3 million threshold instead of lowering it to boost revenue.
He also defended banking the savings instead of putting them back into the system by adding super to paid parental leave.
While it was the government's intention to add super to the leave, it wasn't something that was affordable at the moment, he said.
"This change is about budget repair."
Mr Taylor is being accused of being obstructionist, with comments he made in 2016 about those with large super balances paying their fair share in tax resurfacing.
"It's totally inappropriate someone who has contributed millions and millions of dollars continues to get those 15 per cent tax concessions," he said at the time.
© AAP 2023