Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has launched a last-ditch attempt to woo voters by pledging to allow first-time homebuyers to raid their retirement savings for a house deposit, as his government trails the opposition Labor party in the polls less than a week before an election.

The Super Home Buyer Scheme, which will be introduced in 2023 if Morrison is re-elected, would allow first-time buyers to tap their savings to raise 40 per cent of a deposit up to A$50,000 ($34,000) per person. A separate incentive would also be introduced to tempt those the age of 55 to sell their homes for smaller properties.

But the proposal was condemned by superannuation funds and economists, who said the policy would fuel a surge in prices in an already overheated housing market.