ACTU: Abbott attack on Superannuation

14 March, 2012 | ACTU Media Release

Tony Abbott is putting the retirement security of more than five million working Australians at risk by attacking Australia’s world-class industry superannuation funds.

Statements by Mr Abbott about the $250 billion industry super sector are not only factually incorrect, they could leave working Australians tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement.

ACTU President Ged Kearney said Mr Abbott was once again letting ideology get in the way of the facts.

“Dr No is simply Dr Wrong when it comes to superannuation,” she said.

“And it’s a bit rich for Mr Abbott, who will be a beneficiary from the extremely generous taxpayer-funded super scheme for politicians, to be undermining the retirement savings of millions of hard-working Australians.

“The truth is that working Australians are better off with an industry super fund.

“These funds exist for their members. They generate better returns, and aim to put more dollars into the accounts of members, rather than taking them out as higher fees and profits.”

Earlier this month, figures by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority showed that industry funds are continuing to outperform retail funds with a 9% rate of return versus 6.5% in the past year and 4.5% versus 2.9% over 10 years.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating,” Ms Kearney said. “And when it comes to super the proof is that industry funds are better than retail funds. Full stop.

“Industry super funds are governed by a combination of both union and employer representatives. They adhere to world-class standards of governance and have delivered superior returns to the for-profit retail fund sector since their inception.”

Ms Kearney said it was a travesty that so many working Australians were worse off in retirement by thousands of dollars as a result of the relative poor performance of the retail funds.

“Mr Abbott should instead be focussing his attention on the governance arrangements of the retail super funds and their links to the profit-driven big banks,” she said.

“Instead of attacking a super system that is the envy of the developed world, the Coalition should be concerned about how the retail funds have been ripping off the retirement savings of millions of working Australians through higher fees and poorer investment returns.

“By favouring retail funds over industry funds, Tony Abbott wants to put his hand into workers’  pockets along with the big banks.”