12 People Who Think Letting Young People Use Super For A House Is A Bad Idea

The government is actively considering allowing first home buyers to access their retirement savings for a deposit on a house.

1. Labor argues the plan would INCREASE demand and overheat the housing market.

News Breakfast @BreakfastNews

Should young people be able to access superannuation to buy their first home? @Bowenchris is firmly against it… https://t.co/a1kWjqf1fQ

11:45 PM - 10 Apr 2017

2. In 2015 Malcolm Turnbull was so unimpressed when the concept emerged under then prime minister Tony Abbott, he labelled it a "thoroughly bad idea".

Nikki Short / AAPIMAGE

"That is not what the superannuation system is designed to achieve," said Mr Turnbull, who was communications minister at the time.

3. Despite backing the concept decades ago, former Labor prime minister Paul Keating now says the government would be "reckless" to mess with superannuation.

Tracey Nearmy / AAPIMAGE

"Were the government to proceed with this irresponsible idea, it would potentially destroy superannuation for those, in the main, under 40 years of age, while at the same time, driving up the cost of the housing they are seeking to purchase," Keating wrote recently.

4. Independent economist Saul Eslake was no doubt smiling mischievously when he described the proposal as a "thoroughly bad idea".

saul-eslake.com

“History shows that anything which allows Australians to spend more on housing than they otherwise would … results not in more Australians owning houses, but rather in the houses which Australians already own becoming more expensive,” Eslake told SBS News.

5. The Greens party called it "atrocious".

Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

"Allowing first home buyers to dip into their super in order to buy a home is an atrocious idea and will likely make things worse for those hoping to purchase a home, and in the long term for people when they retire," Greens spokesperson senator Lee Rhiannon said.

6. Independent senator Derryn Hinch said the idea was "crazy".

Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

Hinch argued that it would lead to more people relying on the pension later in life.

7. Even the peak body for the property industry was like, no, this is bad.

Lukas Coch / AAPIMAGE

“[The government] should continue to resist ideas like encouraging the use of superannuation for housing, which will simply create new demand pressures," the Property Council of Australia's Glenn Byers said.

8. A professor at the University of NSW said the idea failed basic first year economics.

Richard Holden @profholden

Using super to buy housing shifts money directly from young savers to old sellers. Complete own goal. 1st year econ-level stuff. #auspol

05:54 AM - 11 Apr 2017

9. The Australian's economics correspondent said it was unbelievable.

Adam Creighton @Adam_Creighton

I frankly can't believe the govt is even considering letting superannuation be used for buying homes. Political system is becoming a menace.

08:28 AM - 11 Apr 2017

10. Even Nationals backbencher Andrew Broad thought it was a "lazy response".

Andrew Broad MP @broad4mallee

Using superannuation to address housing affordability for first home buyers is a lazy response to the problem.

10:13 PM - 11 Apr 2017

11. Liberal senator Anne Ruston said it might "pour a bucket of kerosene on a fire".

Matthew Abraham @KevCorduroy

Lib Minister @Anne_Ruston agrees with @NickChampionMP letting young people use super for housing could pour "a buck… https://t.co/zKr23OP6QA

12:11 AM - 12 Apr 2017

12. Former health minister Sussan Ley is also against it.

Sussan Ley @sussanley

Young people need their super for retirement, not to try to take pressure off an urban housing bubble, better solved by decentralisation.

12:46 AM - 12 Apr 2017

The people who are on the record as supporting the idea include Nick Xenophon, Pauline Hanson and a collection of conservative Liberal backbenchers, among them Tony Abbott.

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