5 years ago
MORRISON PLAYING POLITICS WITH AUSTRALIANS’ SUPER
CHRIS BOWEN MP
2019 sees the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government continue with its blind prejudice against industry funds and refusal to put members’ interest first.
This has reached bizarre levels with a Senior Cabinet minister supporting moving default members into a monopoly government fund, despite this fund achieving lower returns than most industry funds and despite the Productivity Commission explicitly finding such a move would create fiscal risk.
This prejudice hit new lows yesterday with a bizarre intervention from the Prime Minister.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister doubled-down on the Liberals’ war on industry super funds, stating:
“I think what it has highlighted is the real weakness that is there in the system, which is being built up by the power-grab of the unions when it comes to managing Australians’ money.”
These comments are ridiculous. The Productivity Commission report confirmed what the APRA data has told us for years – “underperformers span both default and choice, and most (but not all) affected members are in retail funds.”
It’s time for Scott Morrison, Kelly O’Dwyer and the Liberals to drop their obsession with industry funds and get on with the job of fixing the superannuation so that it works for all Australians, no matter what type of fund they are in.
Scott Morrison voted against the Banking Royal Commission 26 times. The Liberals are divided, out of touch, and only for the top end of town. They simply have no interest in fighting for a better deal for ordinary Australians.
Labor is the architect of compulsory superannuation in Australia. It is a world-class system which Labor is committed to protecting and strengthening. Our number one priority for superannuation is putting members’ interests first – this means getting Australians defaulted into high-quality funds, and helping people out of dodgy and poor-performing funds.
We want members to get a good deal, regardless of whether they’re in an industry, corporate, or retail super fund.
The Productivity Commission has highlighted some big areas for reform in the superannuation sector. Labor will carefully examine the Productivity Commission’s findings and recommendations, alongside the Royal Commission’s Final Report and consult experts and stakeholders in the coming weeks about how we can improve the system for all.
This has reached bizarre levels with a Senior Cabinet minister supporting moving default members into a monopoly government fund, despite this fund achieving lower returns than most industry funds and despite the Productivity Commission explicitly finding such a move would create fiscal risk.
This prejudice hit new lows yesterday with a bizarre intervention from the Prime Minister.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister doubled-down on the Liberals’ war on industry super funds, stating:
“I think what it has highlighted is the real weakness that is there in the system, which is being built up by the power-grab of the unions when it comes to managing Australians’ money.”
These comments are ridiculous. The Productivity Commission report confirmed what the APRA data has told us for years – “underperformers span both default and choice, and most (but not all) affected members are in retail funds.”
It’s time for Scott Morrison, Kelly O’Dwyer and the Liberals to drop their obsession with industry funds and get on with the job of fixing the superannuation so that it works for all Australians, no matter what type of fund they are in.
Scott Morrison voted against the Banking Royal Commission 26 times. The Liberals are divided, out of touch, and only for the top end of town. They simply have no interest in fighting for a better deal for ordinary Australians.
Labor is the architect of compulsory superannuation in Australia. It is a world-class system which Labor is committed to protecting and strengthening. Our number one priority for superannuation is putting members’ interests first – this means getting Australians defaulted into high-quality funds, and helping people out of dodgy and poor-performing funds.
We want members to get a good deal, regardless of whether they’re in an industry, corporate, or retail super fund.
The Productivity Commission has highlighted some big areas for reform in the superannuation sector. Labor will carefully examine the Productivity Commission’s findings and recommendations, alongside the Royal Commission’s Final Report and consult experts and stakeholders in the coming weeks about how we can improve the system for all.