Theres no doubt that people who are in retirement and have enough shares to avoid being on the age pension have worked very hard, invested wisely and gone without.

Under Labors policy, they will continue to receive their share dividends, and they will not be taxed on their dividends. They will also continue to receive tax free income in retirement.

But Labor is saying that Australia cant continue to be the only country in the world that sends cash refunds to shareholders who havent paid income tax in the first place.

A lot of self-funded retirees say to me that they dont want to be a cost to the tax payer.

Fair enough, I respect that.

But the fact of the matter is that in addition to receiving tax free income, more than $5 billion is paid to self-funded retirees and other shareholders every year, despite the fact they dont pay any income tax. Lets not pretend this isnt a cost to the budget. For the 2014-15 financial year, the government paid out more in cash refunds than what they spent on public schools. It cant go on.

Youll hear a lot of myths pedalled by the Liberals in the lead up to the election.

As you hear these myths, remember these facts:

• All of the 2.5 million retired pensioners, full and part, are exempted from Labors policy. Only 4% of Australians are affected by Labors policy. A couple can have up $1 million in assets (or $850,000 if they own their own home), before they lose the part pension, so people who dont have many assets are fully protected.
• This is not a tax. Retirees will continue to receive dividends, and wont pay any tax on their dividend and other income. We will simply stop sending cheques to people who havent paid any income tax.
• The current system is not fair. The more shares you own, the bigger refund you get. It is reversed means tested. People with a lot shares receive rebates bigger than the age pension. If someone receives $25,000 in franking credit cash refunds that means they are likely to own more than $1 million in shares (and likely to own other assets as well). If someone receives $15,000 they are likely to own at least $700,000 in shares. Good on these people for saving and investing: but do they need welfare? For people with self-managed superannuation funds, half of the benefit of franking credit cash refunds goes to people with balances greater than $2.4 million.
• This is not double taxation. By refunding tax paid by the company to the shareholder, that means no tax has been collected at all on the corporate profit, which is hardly fair.
• These changes only apply to franking credits received after 1 July 2019. If you pay tax you will continue to be able to use franking credits, our policy change only applies to people that do not pay any tax.
• The Liberals will tell you they support older Australians. Bu they promised No change to the pension in 2013 and then threw 100,000 people off the age pension, cut the pension for 300,000 retired Australians and tried to make people wait until they are 70 to get the pension. They have very little credibility when it comes to older Australians.

We believe in being honest with the Australian people about our policies. We believe in telling the truth before the election. We will run a fact campaign and ask the Australian people to agree that we have the better plans.

This opinion piece was first published in the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail and The West Australian on Friday, 15 February 2019.