The Labor Party is planning to rip money from the pockets of retirees, low-income earners and pensioners to pay for its budget black hole.

Labor has announced they will abolish tax refunds for share dividends if elected. This means that if you are on a low-income, or have a small self-managed superannuation account, you will no longer get a refund from the Tax Office for tax already paid on your shares.

Despite Bill Shorten’s latest backflip, Labor’s Retiree Tax 2.0 still takes money from the pockets of low-income earners and pensioners–even though he claims it doesn’t. Regardless of Labor’s supposed ‘Pensioner Guarantee’, any pensioner who joins an SMSF from 28 March 2018, or anyone with an SMSF who becomes a pensioner after this date, will miss out on their tax refunds.

I met with Wynnum local Russell Goebel today to discuss Labor’s ridiculous backflip. He told me his 84-year-old widowed mother, who is on the Full Single Age Pension, would’ve lost $1,400 a year under Labor’s original proposal. That’s almost 5% of her yearly income, or slightly more than three weeks of the Age Pension payment.

Russell told me, “The fact Labor turned their policy around within two weeks demonstrates how ill-thought-out this policy really is. Labor is supposed to be the party that helps people who aren’t so well-off, but they were happy to announce a policy that hurts people on low incomes and pensioners like my mother. It’s thought bubble policy making.”

“If Labor can’t get something as simple as this right, how can they be trusted to get more complex issues right? How can Labor be trusted with our economy?”

Labor’s Retiree Tax hits older Australians particularly hard, as more than 40% of individuals impacted are 65 years or older. These Australians have worked hard, taken responsibility and saved for their retirement.

Bill Shorten and the Labor Party have dealt a cruel blow to them with this plan. Labor is slugging older Australians to pay for its unsustainable spending spree.

Share ownership is for everyone. Tax refunds from share dividends help relieve cost of living pressures for many retirees and people on low incomes. That is why the Turnbull Government is committed to keeping tax refunds for franking credits.

The Turnbull Government stands for fairness, opportunity and security. Our plan is to keep taxes as low as they can be, while guaranteeing the essentials to reduce cost of living pressures for Australians.