The Coalition’s Plan for Real Action on Superannuation
19-August-2010
The Coalition supports Australia’s three-pillar retirement system comprising an aged pension, a
compulsory system of retirement saving through superannuation and incentives for voluntary saving.
The introduction of compulsory superannuation in Australia was a ground-breaking reform. It provided a system for Australians to build wealth towards a comfortable and self sufficient retirement.
Superannuation reduces Australians’ long-term dependence on government support, which helps underpin the sustainability of government finances. The Coalition wants to encourage as many Australians as possible to plan and save for their retirement, and to take full advantage of the benefits the superannuation system offers.
We are proud of our record on superannuation. When last in government the Coalition introduced reforms to enable Australians to choose their own superannuation fund. We oversaw payments and incentives that encouraged Australians, especially Australians on lower to middle incomes, to make additional contributions to their retirement nest egg.
The Labor Government has seriously reduced the ability of individuals to contribute to their retirement savings. In the 2009-10 Budget, Labor halved the concessional contribution caps and temporarily cut back Government payments under the co-contribution scheme by a third. There are many inefficiencies in the system which the Labor Government has failed to address.
This ineptitude is typical of the poor standard of economic management of the Labor Government. This government has overseen a calamitous deterioration in Australia’s fiscal position. It has squandered billions on poorly conceived and poorly administered programs. It has overseen the fastest build up of debt in Australia’s peace time history. It has left a heavy burden on taxpayers to service and repay the debt.
The Coalition knows that the interests of superannuants and the industry are better served by opposing Labor’s mining tax and carbon tax and by implementing the Coalition’s plan to lower the company tax rate from 30% to 28.5%. Australia cannot afford another three years of backward steps and policy paralysis on superannuation.
The next Coalition Government will take Real Action to make Australia’s superannuation system work better.
The Coalition will:
1. Abolish the Superannuation Guarantee age limit1
2. Request the Australian Office of Financial Management to examine issuing bonds for terms of up to 30 years
3. Consider and respond to the Cooper review2 recommendations before the end of our first term of government
4. Release Treasury modelling of the impact of the Henry review’s recommendations3 for
superannuation, to contribute to a fully informed community discussion
1. Undertakings 1 and 2 have already been announced as part of the Support Seniors plan.
2. http://www.supersystemreview.gov.au/content/content.aspx?doc=html/papers.htm
3. http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=html/home.htm
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