Super for houses is a bad idea, but Scott Morrison wants to pick a fight over it | Katharine Murphy

If the 2022 contest is between a bulldozer and a builder, it makes sense that the final act of the election be staged on a residential housing construction site.

As his final throw of the dice in this election, Morrison tracked back to homeownership, dusting off a well-ventilated but previously perpetually stalled proposal for people to use their superannuation to help with the purchase of their first home.

But here we are.

While Morrison set about proving once again he is prepared to do whatever it takes to win, Peter Dutton suddenly disclosed the presence of a Chinese surveillance ship off the coastline just in case anyone planning to vote over the next few days was interested in that information.

Then Morrison moved to pick his fight with Labor about people using their superannuation savings to help fund a first home, while also widening access to super tax concessions for any asset rich older Australians currently contemplating downsizing.

Labor tried on the tax concessions back in 2019, and voters thumped them. Notwithstanding the problem that voters resoundingly rejected at the last election one of the solutions that might actually make a substantive difference, substantive solutions to this problem are what Australians actually need.

But, hey guys, Morrison has his election fight.