6 years ago
FINANCIAL SERVICES MINISTER ATTACKS SUPER GUARANTEE INCREASE
CHRIS BOWEN MP
The Financial Services Minister has launched an extraordinary and unhinged attack on the Government’s own legislated plan to increase the Super Guarantee (SG) from 9.5 to 12 per cent, raising new doubts over the Liberal Party’s commitment to boosting retirement incomes for working Australians.
The Prime Minister now needs to make a clear statement that millions of working Australians will not suffer further loss from yet another delay in the Super Guarantee rising to 12 per cent.
Ms O’Dwyer today in a speech to the AFR Business Summit said everything but confirming the conservatives would delay, yet again, the timetable for increasing the Super Guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent, which is set to commence in 2021.
The Financial Services Council in its Budget submission put the cost of the current two year delay to the SG increase at $39,000 in individual retirement savings for someone retiring over the next decade with a cumulative impact of $40 billion in super savings in the system over the next seven years.
Yet another delay in the timetable to increase the Super Guarantee will cost working and middle income Australians billions of dollars in their retirement income. It’s as simple as that.
The Liberal Party from time to time pretends to be the friend of superannuation, but it’s voting record has always been one of sustained attacks on both compulsory superannuation and any increases in the Superannuation Guarantee.
The Liberal Party’s track record includes:
- Voting against the introduction of universal, compulsory superannuation;
- Voting against all of the increases to the superannuation guarantee (from 3% to the current 9.5% and the originally scheduled increases to 12)
- Delaying the scheduled increases to the superannuation guarantee from 9.5% to 12%.
A failure of the Turnbull Government to lock in behind the current timetable to increase the Super Guarantee to 12 per cent will create further uncertainty in the financial services sector and cost working and middle income Australians billions of dollars in retirement incomes.