‘Eat the Rich!’ isn’t (yet) an acceptable mainstream narrative in Australia … but it is popular amongst Labor’s unofficial coalition partner, the Greens. Remember, the Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate and are able to negotiate and massage policies before they reach law.

Regardless of this perceived unpopularity and lack of social licence, it hasn’t stopped left-wing governments around the world hosting a séance to summon the vengeful spirits of wealth taxes while the people are distracted by other issues.

For example, UK Labour’s horrific wealth taxes and grave-robbing inheritance tax has resulted in the largest exodus of millionaires in the world. Instead of waiting around to be pick-pocketed, prosperity is fleeing. Where did it go? The UAE. As of July, 2025, they have ‘emerged’ as the ‘top global safe-haven for wealth’.

(The implication being that Western nations have become unsafe for wealth generation. Maybe that should have been a topic at the Productivity Roundtable?)

Our geopolitical rivals are being financed, directly, by the greed of Western left-wing governments.

Right now, the global economy is an hourglass that has been tipped over with all the Western wealth pouring into the Global South and the hand that tipped the glass belonged to our political leaders. They knocked it over while reaching for our wallets.

These tax havens have no personal income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax. Instead, they allow people to create wildly successful businesses … and then tax those. People are rewarded for hard work meanwhile Australians are slaves in the Canberra gulag.

While Labor hasn’t sunk to the grim practice of stealing from the dead and their children with inheritance taxes, the Treasurer did attempt to pilfer fictional profits.

The proposed doubling of super tax to 30 per cent and addition of a tax on unrealised capital gains for super balances over $3 million infuriated not only Teals, Liberals, and Libertarians, it also ruffled the feathers of the Labor Party supporters and powerful union-run super funds. It was seen as a violation of the promise made by government when compulsory super was brought in, and trampled all over the long-established line in the sand for tax boundaries.

Despite loud screeching directed at the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, plenty of think tanks came out to combat angry headlines.

The Australian Institute ran the headline, Do you have $3 million in super? Me neither. These changes will actually help you.

The argument?

‘The fact is, [this tax] is popular.’

Sure. Taking money off strangers and giving it to those who didn’t earn it will always be popular among the recipients but that doesn’t make it moral or economically sensible.

‘Australian Institute research shows that twice as many Australians support (52 per cent) the government’s super tax concessions changes as oppose them (26 per cent), with around a quarter still undecided. The polling also found that about one in five of those surveyed thought it would impact their retirement plans when in reality, only one in 200 will be affected.’

The same argument of popularity and consensus can be made for university students having their debt partially wiped thanks to the (forced) generosity of less privileged and/or more economically responsible taxpayers. University students were thrilled. The working class were appalled. Those who went to the trouble of paying their debts were livid. The net result was the creation of class hostility and jealousy where before there was harmony. Labor’s policy might help them win an election, but it was detrimental to the fabric of Australia.

Last week, whispers began that the Treasurer’s super tax was simply too toxic.

According to the Australian Financial Review:

‘The government went to ground on Friday after the Australian Financial Review reported it had hit pause on its long-held plans to impose an extra 15 per cent tax on earnings of superannuation balances above $3 million, including on unrealised gains, as it contemplated changes to the controversial proposed division 296 tax.

‘Only Resources Minister Madeleine King surfaced, saying nothing had changed “at this moment” regarding the policy.’

Her strange comment ‘at this moment’ was apparently the same phrase used before previous policy backflips.

Suspicions that Albanese is frightened of a ‘scare campaign’ being run against Labor thanks to Chalmers is valid. It’s easy to run a scare campaign against a scary government. Even the Liberals could probably manage it.

There is $4.3 trillion sitting in the super kitty and while only the top 80,000 richest people would be implicated in the proposed tax, they represented a sizeable chunk of that tasty looking cash. (Has anyone calculated the expected super kitty for unreaslied gains?)

Shadow Treasurer, Ted O’Brien, said:

‘Reports today indicate that Labor is walking away from its super big, super bad super tax after the Prime Minister has been forced to pull rank on his Treasurer. Labor’s unfair tax on unrealised capital gains would see Australians taxed on money they never received, crosses a red line in tax law and sets a dangerous precedent.

‘This whole saga shows a Treasurer addicted to spending and secret taxes, and a Prime Minister who is forever playing catch up. When Labor run out of money, they always come after yours.’

Let’s have a look at the line the ABC is running over the weekend.

‘It was left on the policy books at the last election, which means it’s nearly the only genuine structural tax reform that the government has a full electoral mandate for. If the cabinet walks away at this point – on a policy Treasurer Jim Chalmers says affects no more than about 80,000 of the nation’s wealthiest Australians – it’s a bad omen for those who desire more substantial tax reform.’

My personal belief is that the current ideological weather of Australia likes the idea of taking money off ‘rich people’ and embracing a soft-form welfare state. A large part of this is the fault of our university system. As one of the largest causes of debt among the young, they have cleverly trained these minds to blame ‘rich people’ for their financial predicament instead of the institutions that actually chained them to debt in exchange for increasingly disappointing qualifications. The appetite for socialist-style tax is being encouraged by Labor and the Greens who have mismanaged the country to the point they have nothing to offer the electorate except other people’s money.

Andrew Podger from the ANU makes a good point. ‘You’ve got to remember that people have been forced to make these savings. To force people to save and then overtax them would be extremely unreasonable. They paid up-front when they were young.’

Jim Chalmers is still wandering around pretending that his super tax is untouchable, but the existence of whispers usually indicates someone in the Labor media machine is testing the waters to see if a backflip will be well received.

So far? Oh hell yes! People want this policy gone.

In his own words, Jim Chalmers said this about super:

‘Currently, 1.6 million people aged 65 and over receive income from a super product. This will more than double over the next decade as a further 2.5 million people are expected to retire with a super account. Australians will increasingly retire with higher balances, as they will benefit from receiving the super guarantee for a longer portion of their careers and at a higher rate. As people rely less on the age pension, superannuation will be the primary source of income for many more future retirees.’

The @AlboMP Government is looking to maximise the retirement phase of superannuation by working with super funds to deliver a better retirement for more Australians. My piece in today’s @FinancialReview #auspol #ausecon pic.twitter.com/strwQFH3Dj

— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) December 3, 2023

The Treasurer talks warmly about wanting to help people get more out of their money, and so we might ask why he turns around and conspires in favour of a $3 million glass ceiling and extra taxes to punish those who saved successfully…