More than 2.6 million Australians raced to drain their superannuation accounts under the Morrison government’s $38 billion COVID early release stimulus program, using the money to gamble, buy furniture and takeaway meals.
from the Australian Taxation Office and the Social Security Department to determine where users of the scheme lived and how much they withdrew from their super accounts. Anonymised data from credit bureau Illion enabled the researchers to track the large changes in expenditure recorded across the country as the super was fed into the economy.More than 40 per cent of people employed as construction and mining labourers used the program.
Of those who used the scheme, five in six withdrew as much as they could with 75 per cent taking out the maximum $10,000 available to them. Three-quarters of people withdrew $10,000 in both rounds. Hamilton, a former Treasury official, said the findings should be a wake-up call for any politician looking to allow people to access their super for anything but retirement.
Withdrawn money was spent on furniture and office equipment, supermarkets, restaurant or takeaway meals and at department stores.
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