Minister Chalmers said the government had a very full agenda and that it was looking to progress a number of bills through the Senate.

“There will be a lot of activity, a lot of action over the course of the next couple of weeks,” he said.

SMSF Association CEO Peter Burgess told SMSF Adviser that at the end of each sitting year, the government of the day tends to use a guillotine motion to progress stalled legislation.

“This is usually ‘non-controversial’ legislation passed with the support of the Opposition, but the government this year may try to construct a ‘mega-deal’ with the Greens and crossbench Senators to pass a swathe of reforms that have been blocked in the Senate. The $3 million cap bill could be one of the bills being bundled,” Burgess said.

“It would be a tragedy if, because of this rushed and shambolic process, such a deeply flawed measure was passed.”

This follows the admission on Monday from Minister for Agriculture and Small Business, Julie Collins, that if the proposed $3 million super legislation is passed, farmers may have to sell their family farms.

Minister Collins said if the tax on unrealised gains is legislated as part of the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions Bill, even in years with zero or negative income, farmers would have to find the cash to meet liquidity requirements, potentially forcing the sale of family farms.

The Better Targeted Super Concessions Bill was not scheduled for debate in the Senate this week, creating doubt as to whether it would be passed by the end of the parliamentary sitting year.

The government would need 39 seats to pass the bill in its current form in the Senate, and currently only has 25, so would need the support of the Greens to give them 11 seats and three of the six independents, including Jacqui Lambie, One Nation and the United Australia Party.