Cooper Review states the obvious on superannuation

The Cooper Review doesn't say anything about superannuation that financial planners didn't know already, writes Mike Taylor.

Review panels and parliamentary committees make recommendations. Duly elected Governments, taking account of those recommendations, make policy and determine the content of the consequent legislation.

Thus, despite the millions of breathless words written in the daily newspapers, the final report of the Cooper Review needs to be put into its correct perspective: it represents a series of recommendations compiled by a panel of eight people, some of whom have no particular expertise with respect to superannuation.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

What is more, the content of the document ultimately handed to the Minister for Financial Services, Chris Bowen, had been known for the better part of two months.

Indeed, key elements of the recommendations such as MySuper and SuperStream had been known for longer than that.

It is a measure of how long the proposals had been known to the Government that Bowen, when discussing the MySuper and SuperStream proposals, was in possession of Treasury modelling on just how much they would cost and how much they would save.

So if anyone wants to know what the Government will ultimately take from the Cooper Review they should look no further than the Minister’s words and the Treasury modelling.

As an experienced politician with an eye to the electorally expedient, Bowen knows that the back-office efficiencies contained in the SuperStream proposals are a no-brainer. He also knows the MySuper proposals are a harder sell but, with some accommodations, are probably saleable.

Sadly for the Australian taxpayers, you did not need to spend millions of dollars funding an inquiry to realise money could be saved by making superannuation more efficient. Just about anyone who has dealt with a super fund would know their practices lag the available technology by upwards of 10 years.

Bowen has promised further consultation on the Cooper recommendations. But the timetable for that consultation will ultimately depend on the timing of the Federal Election.