Superannuation is shaping up as one of the big fault lines of the next federal election. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the poll will be a "referendum on super", and now a Liberal backbencher wants his party to answer by promising to leave the system alone. That puts him at odds with colleagues who want super used for housing, and with One Nation's plan to divert some contributions into pay packets.

Hamilton's pitch

Garth Hamilton, the Liberal member for Groom in Queensland, set out his position in comments on 1 November 2026.

"I think we should be offering no changes at all to how it's invested, taxed or accessed," he said.

He also opposes letting first home buyers dip into their super early.

Hamilton said he has majority support in the party room. He said Opposition Leader Angus Taylor "sees the same challenges", and compared his push to John Howard's decision in 1995 to accept Medicare rather than keep fighting it.

The Liberals have had no formal super policy since their election loss.

A split on super for housing

Hamilton's stance cuts across ideas floated by his own frontbench.

In September, Shadow Housing Minister Andrew Bragg suggested letting people use their super to pay off a Mortgage or fund a first home loan. "You could take it out to pay off a mortgage…", he said. Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson backed him.

That would build on recent Coalition history. Under Scott Morrison and then Peter Dutton, the Coalition took a policy of letting first home buyers withdraw up to $50,000 from super for a deposit to the past two elections.

None of these ideas is current Coalition policy. They are proposals and internal debates, not commitments.

One Nation's 'super pay boost'

On the other side of the debate is One Nation. The party proposes paying a quarter of compulsory super contributions, or 3 per cent of wages, into Take-home pay for three years, to help people paying a mortgage or rent.

With the Superannuation Guarantee now at 12 per cent, three percentage points is exactly a quarter of the contribution.

Hamilton was dismissive. He said One Nation's approach would let people "spend it on a second jet ski".

One Nation has not published a costing, a start date or how the diverted money would be taxed. That last point matters, because super and wages are taxed very differently under current rules.

How the tax difference works under current rules

The following is a general explanation of today's rules, not a description of One Nation's policy, which has not set out any tax treatment.

Employer super contributions are concessional contributions. They are generally taxed at 15 per cent inside the fund. Higher-income earners can pay an extra 15 per cent under Division 293, and low-income earners may get some or all of the contributions tax back through the low income super tax offset.

Wages are taxed at the employee's marginal rate, plus the Medicare levy, usually 2 per cent. For 2026–27, the rate on income between $45,001 and $135,000 is 30 per cent.

Hypothetical example: Sam earns $80,000 a year. At the 12 per cent Superannuation Guarantee, his employer pays $9,600 into super. A quarter of that is $2,400.

If that $2,400 stays in super, 15 per cent contributions tax of $360 is deducted, leaving $2,040 invested.

If instead the same $2,400 were paid as ordinary wages and taxed under current rules at 30 per cent plus the 2 per cent Medicare levy, the tax would be $768. Sam would take home $1,632.

On those assumptions, Sam would have $408 less in total each year, and $2,040 less in super, before any lost Investment earnings. Over three years, $7,200 of contributions would be redirected.

The gap depends on income. From 1 July 2026, the marginal rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 is 15 per cent, the same as the contributions tax, though the Medicare levy and offsets would also affect the result. Above $135,000 the marginal rate rises to 37 per cent, so the gap would be wider, although Division 293 can also lift the tax on contributions for higher earners.

That outcome is only one possibility. A scheme could be designed to tax the money differently, and One Nation has not said what it intends.

Why 'taxed' is already a live issue

Hamilton's call to leave super tax untouched comes after major changes have already been made.

The Division 296 tax has applied from 1 July 2026 to people with super balances above $3 million, according to the ATO. It is enacted law, and the ATO is still finalising guidance.

Employers are also adjusting to Payday Super, which started on 1 July 2026 and requires contributions to be paid much closer to payday. Under the new regime, the ATO assesses the super guarantee charge.

A promise of "no changes at all" would, in practice, mean locking in those rules rather than unwinding them. Hamilton did not say whether he would want any of them reversed.

For members, the practical message is that super policy remains contested. Different parties are offering very different visions, from early access for housing to diverting contributions into wages to leaving the system as it is.

What to watch

The Liberal party room is the first test. Hamilton claims majority support, but frontbenchers including Bragg and Wilson have publicly backed using super for housing. Any formal policy from Angus Taylor's team will show which side has won.

One Nation's plan will need detail. Watch for a costing, a start date and an explanation of how the diverted 3 per cent would be taxed.

On the government side, Chalmers has framed the next election as a contest over super. With the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook due in December, watch for any super measures in the budget update.

Until then, everything outside current law is a proposal, not policy, and none of it is settled.