I fail to understand the labelling of these franking credits as a "concession".  The company pays x% tax on profits, the recipient of dividends funded by profits gets a refund of x% to avoid double taxation.  Recent budget measures to reduce company tax and impose a levy to fund maternity leave already looked like an attempt to rob investors of part of their franking credits. Many retirees, especially self-funded retirees, rely on these franking credits to earn enough to live without leaning on the government for pension support. To remove this would indeed create a "level playing field" with overseas investors in our share market, but what is the advantage of this.  Certainly there should be an acknowledgement that pension payments would rise should franking be abolished, and the backlash fro an increasing population (proportionally) of older voters would be ugly, I can assure you.