Super changes leave campaign questions

He knows the issue is a sore point, and a particularly hot button for wealthier voters inclined to vote Liberal.

But he is not helped by the complexity of the superannuation system; even the most savvy investors need advisers to help negotiate its obscure corners.

It is all too easy for Mr Morrison’s detailed explanations to be lost amid a scare campaign.

The biggest change to superannuation is a cap of $1.6 million on balances that can earn tax free income.

This means superannuants pay 15 per cent tax on income earned on balances above this amount; a husband and wife can retire on tax-free income from a combined $3.2 million in investments.

It is difficult to imagine this would not provide a comfortable retirement.

Mr Morrison defended the change this week: “Only one per cent of people get to $1.6 million now under the current contribution arrangements, so while that is the cap it's not like everybody is going to earn an income that will put them in that zone”.

But there are other changes that are more difficult for a politician to explain in the sound bites which are the staple diet of television news, including positive changes that will benefit contractors and women returning to the workforce after rearing families.

The government’s other difficulty is that even when the changes are understood, there is opposition.

Liberal party supporters perceive them as an attack on Liberal values; they say the changes promote a dependency on government pensions and dissuade people from planning sensible retirement savings.

Prior to Mr Morrison’s proposed changes, superannuation was a tax-free zone which a government eyed off only at its peril.

Now super is fair game for tax revenue, retirees are wondering where it might lead; if a Liberal government thinks it a great idea to tax balances over $1.6 million at 15 per cent, where will Labor draw the line?

The concern, which Mr Morrison, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and their Labor opposition have not yet addressed is how far are they prepared to tax-gouge future superannuation savings to pay for the election promises they are making today.