Stop the Super Tax Grab! Protect Australia’s Hardworking Savers! By Paul Walker
"Let me tell you how it will be, there's one for you, nineteen for me, 'cause I'm the taxman…"
The Beatles' Taxman warned us about governments reaching into every corner of our lives, even taxing our feet. Now, in 2025, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is taking it further, taxing the unrealised dreams of Australians. From July 1, a new tax on unrealised capital gains in superannuation funds over $3 million threatens to punish farmers, retirees, and small investors who played by the rules, saved diligently, and trusted the system. This isn't just a policy, it's a betrayal, and it's time to fight back.
The government claims this tax, affecting 0.5% of super accounts (80,000–100,000 Australians), targets the "wealthy." But the real victims are people like you: farmers, retirees in regional towns, and small business owners who poured their lives into building a secure future. This policy taxes unrealised capital gains, value increases in assets like land, shares, or start-up investments that you haven't sold and may never see as cash. Imagine owning a farm that's risen in value on paper due to market trends, then getting a tax bill you can't pay without selling livestock, land, or your home. That's the reality for many.
Take a sheep grazier who bought land through their Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF). The land's value has climbed, but their income hasn't. Now, they face thousands in taxes on "gains" they can't touch, forcing them to sell assets to cover the bill. Or consider a retiree whose modest super fund grew through decades of careful investing, now they're taxed on shares they haven't sold, pushing them to liquidate at a loss. Even a young entrepreneur backing a start-up through their super could be hit with a tax on a valuation spike, with no way to pay it. This isn't fairness; it's a shakedown.
The $3 million threshold sounds high, but it's not indexed to inflation. Super balances often grow faster than inflation due to compounding or property booms, common for rural landowners. A farmer with $2 million in super today could be over the limit in a decade, even with modest growth. Their kids? Guaranteed to be caught in this net by retirement. This tax is designed to quietly ensnare more Australians over time, turning middle-class savers into tax targets. It's not about the "mega-rich"; it's about punishing ambition and foresight.
Adding insult to injury, Canberra's elites are exempt. Senior bureaucrats, former premiers, judges, and federal politicians enjoy taxpayer-funded, inflation-proof pensions untouched by this tax, protected by laws that would require a referendum to change. Meanwhile, hardworking Australians face market volatility and tax bills on imaginary gains. It's the ultimate hypocrisy: the taxman taxes your feet while the elites keep dancing.
Respected economic minds are sounding the alarm. Former Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe calls it bad policy, urging fairer alternatives. Former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry is baffled why Labor ignored other options. Geoff Wilson, founder of Wilson Asset Management, warns it'll choke venture capital, force asset sales, and drive investors offshore. Norway tried a similar wealth tax on unrealised gains, over 100 of its top taxpayers fled, taking billions in capital. Australia risks the same: start-ups will starve, farmers will sell up, and capital will flee to places like Singapore. This isn't reform; it's economic sabotage.
The socially destructive Greens, holding Senate power, want to slash the threshold to $2 million and scrap the 50% capital gains tax discount. If they succeed, the tax burden will crush even more Australians, dismantling the retirement planning system. Remember 2006–07, when the government urged people to pour savings into super? Those who trusted that call, farmers, small business owners, quiet achievers, are now being punished retroactively. It's a breach of faith.
If you're a farmer this tax could hit your land or assets held in an SMSF, forcing sales that disrupt your livelihood. If you're a retiree, it threatens your nest egg, built through decades of sacrifice. If you're an investor, it punishes risk-taking, stifling innovation. And if you're young, it signals your future savings aren't safe. The Beatles' Taxman didn't imagine this level of overreach, but here we are, taxed not for what we earn, but for what Canberra thinks we might have.
This tax isn't inevitable. While this is not financial advice, for information purposes only, and political as well, you can stop the taxman's grab:
1.Contact Jim Chalmers: Email
2.Reach Out to Your MP: Call or email your local Federal MP. Flood their offices with stories of farmers, retirees, and investors hit by this policy. Make it personal.
3.Spread the Word: Share this article and/or George's below, with family, friends, and your accountant. Post it on X, talk to your community, and get loud. Awareness is power.
4.Review Your Super: Consult a financial advisor to assess your SMSF or super assets. Restructure now to minimise exposure before July 1, 2025.
5.Stay Informed: Follow updates on www.treasury.gov.au or X accounts like @GeoffWilsonWAM and @SenatorRennick for the latest on this tax fight.
This isn't just about superannuation, it's about trust, fairness, and whether Australia still rewards hard work. The taxman's coming for your unrealised gains today, but what's next? Your farm? Your home? Your future? You bet if we let them! Let's send a message to Canberra: stop punishing the responsible. Stop taxing our life blood. Join the fight to protect your savings and Australia's economic soul!
https://nationfirst.substack.com/p/theyre-coming-for-what-you-havent
The Australian government plans to tax unrealised capital gains in large superannuation funds from July 1st, impacting those who haven't actually received income.
Hardworking Australians like farmers, retirees, and small investors will be forced to sell assets to pay tax on paper gains.
The policy's threshold isn't inflation-indexed, meaning more people will be caught in the tax net over time.
Critics argue this move undermines trust in the superannuation system and disproportionately spares political elites with protected pensions.
Economic leaders warn the policy could push capital offshore, hurt innovation, and mirror failed overseas experiments like Norway's wealth tax.
This tax on unrealised gains is not a joke. It's not a drill. And it's not just a policy mistake—it's a declaration of war on Australians who worked hard, saved smart, invested wisely, and trusted the system.
They've dressed it up in spin. "Only affects 0.5%," they say. But what they don't say is this: that 0.5% includes the backbone of this nation. The farmers. The small business owners. The SMSF (Self-Managed Super Fund) retirees. The builders, the battlers, and yes, the strivers, people who followed the rules and built their own futures.
Let me show you exactly who Chalmers is coming for:
There's Peter and Jenny, sheep graziers in regional New South Wales, who took financial advice a decade ago and bought the adjoining property through their super fund. That land's value has risen—on paper—but the farm brings in just enough to cover the bills. Now, under Labor's plan, they'll be taxed thousands on "gains" they've never realised. They'll have to sell stock. Or worse, sell land. Because the bureaucrats in Canberra say their farm's "worth" more.
There's Margaret, a 71-year-old widow in Toowoomba. Her late husband built their super fund to $4 million over 40 years of careful saving and dividend reinvestment. They lived modestly. Never took holidays. Drove second-hand cars. Now, she's being told she owes tens of thousands in tax on the supposed "growth" in her retirement savings—despite never touching a cent of it. Margaret's choice? Sell shares or sell her home.
Then there's Jackson, a 40-something software engineer in Brisbane, who backed a mate's start-up through his super fund. That start-up just closed a funding round, doubling its valuation—on paper. Jackson's now staring down a tax bill on "gains" he can't cash out. The company isn't liquid. The shares can't be sold. Jackson's reward for taking a risk on Aussie innovation? He's pulling the plug on his SMSF altogether.
This is what Jim Chalmers—Australia's grinning Treasurer and architect of this madness—has unleashed: fear, confusion, forced liquidation, and betrayal. And backing him? The faceless Treasury elites—Canberra lifers who've never run a business or paid staff wages, hiding behind spreadsheets and bureaucratic jargon while they gut the real economy.
The threshold is not even indexed to inflation, and superannuation often increases in multiples of the inflation rate. So, by its nature it is designed to quietly rope in more Australians with every passing year. What might seem like a wealthy balance today will become middle-class by tomorrow's standards. Take a 40-something professional today with $1 million in their super—safe for now. But their kids? By the time they retire, inflation will have quietly pushed their balances well over the limit. The system is set up to ensnare them.
And let's not forget The Greens, Australia's progressive party that now holds the balance of power in the upper house (Senate). With their hands on the legislative tiller, they've been crystal clear about their intentions: they want the threshold slashed to $2 million—and they want the 50% capital gains tax discount scrapped for most assets. This isn't speculation. It's their stated policy. Once that CGT discount is gone, what's left to bargain with? The entire framework of retirement planning and investment confidence begins to collapse.
Remember that $1 million super contribution campaign back in 2006–07? The government practically begged Australians to pour after-tax dollars into their super before the rules changed. Many did exactly that. Small business owners. Farm families. Quiet achievers who never asked for a handout, employed hundreds over decades, and paid millions in taxes. Now, those same Australians are being punished—retrospectively—for trusting the system.
Is this what fairness looks like? Taxing people not on what they've earned, but on a concept? On a number someone in Treasury typed into a spreadsheet?
Even Bob Katter, a veteran politician who represents a poor rural electorate in far north Queensland, is fuming. He put it plainly:
"Labor's policy to tax unrealised capital gains in super accounts is ludicrous… This will have catastrophic effects on anyone with a farm, a house, or similar asset held by a super fund. You may have to sell your asset just to pay the tax. It won't touch the mega-rich. It will break the back of middle Australia."
Meanwhile, those imposing this tax won't feel the heat. A growing number of senior officials—including many former state premiers, judges, and top bureaucrats—are exempt from the tax due to legacy pension schemes enshrined in law. Federal politicians also escape unscathed under special retirement provisions. To remove these legal shields would require a national referendum—a political impossibility.
That means while you pay tax on imaginary gains, they keep collecting taxpayer-guaranteed, inflation-proof pensions with zero exposure to the market volatility that affects ordinary Australians. This is the very definition of two-tiered hypocrisy.
And it's not just retirees and farmers who are speaking out. Australia's most respected economic minds are sounding the alarm.
Dr Philip Lowe, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, broke his post-retirement silence to say bluntly:
"I am not convinced this is good public policy… We should be exploring other ways to adjust the concessional tax rates on high super balances."
Dr Ken Henry, former Treasury Secretary and architect of the Henry Tax Review, said he was baffled as to why Labor ignored fairer alternatives:
"There are other options… you do not need to tax unrealised capital gains to achieve equity."
Geoff Wilson AO, founder of $6 billion fund manager Wilson Asset Management, has been one of the loudest voices in the fight. He warns that this tax will force retirees to sell assets, choke off venture capital, and send capital flying offshore. He summed it up best:
"It's not about taxing the wealthy. It's about punishing the responsible. Investors will leave. Start-ups will suffer. And it will backfire—hard."
Want proof? Look to Norway, where a similar policy sparked an exodus of the country's wealth creators. The government expected a revenue boost from their wealth tax on unrealised gains. Instead, over 100 of the country's top 400 taxpayers fled—many to Switzerland—taking billions in capital with them. Entrepreneur Tord Ueland Kolstad, who moved to Lucerne, put it simply:
"The system is designed so that it confiscates more than you can produce."
That's what happens when governments punish ambition.
So let's be clear: this isn't just bad tax policy. It's a blueprint for economic sabotage.
If we allow this Trojan horse through the gates—this tax on potential, on paper, on perception—what's next? Your investment property? Your family home? Your business?
Because if they can tax imaginary growth in superannuation today, nothing is safe tomorrow.
What can you do?
1.Contact Treasurer Jim Chalmers at either
2.Contact your local Federal MP. Flood their inboxes. Call their offices. Tell them this is not a tax reform—it's an economic betrayal.
3.Share this article. With your family. Your friends. Your accountant. Your financial adviser. Get loud. Get visible. Get others informed.
This isn't just about tax. It's about trust. It's about fairness. And it's about whether hard work and sacrifice are still respected in this country—or just quietly plundered by those in charge."
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