Senator Mathias Cormann has accused the government of death by committee after Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation Bill Shorten invited the public to have a say on the future of superannuation.
Speaking at the Queensland Media Club on Thursday, Shorten announced plans to progress a charter of superannuation adequacy and sustainability by establishing a charter group that will conduct consultations.
“The purpose of the charter is to enshrine the core objectives, values and principles of our superannuation system for the long term,” Shorten said.
The charter group will also seek input on the establishment of a council of superannuation custodians.
The council has been mooted as an impartial, expert superannuation body tasked with protecting the integrity of the scheme and ensuring the policy settings are consistent with the core objects, values and principles.
“As with the Reserve Bank on monetary policy, the council will be required to consider the interests of all Australians when reviewing superannuation policy,” Shorten said.
“The charter and council will ensure that Australia’s superannuation system is protected and enhanced for future generations.”
The council will report annually on the adequacy, performance and sustainability of superannuation, as well as make recommendations to parliament for improvements.
Cormann: not more committees
However, the opposition believes the creation of another committee will not change the recent past.
“Despite promising no change to superannuation in 2007, Labor over the past five years has increased taxes on people’s retirement savings 10 times already, increasing taxes on super by more than $8 billion in the process,” said Senator Mathias Cormann.
“They have cut concessional contribution caps from $50,000 and $100,000 under the last Coalition government, depending on age, down to $25,000 across the board. This means people who want to save more than $25,000 towards their retirement through superannuation in one year have to pay 46.5 per cent tax on those contributions.
“Having cut the super co-contribution benefit for low income earners from $1500 a year to $1000 a year already, Bill Shorten is about to try and push legislation through the parliament over the next five weeks to cut that benefit down again – this time in half, down to just $500 a year.”
Cormann believes voters will be their own “council of custodians” when they pass judgment at the next election.
“To protect people’s superannuation savings, we don’t need more bureaucracy, we need a change of government,” he said.