The Federal Government is continuing to leave open the question of whether it will deliver the next scheduled increase in the superannuation guarantee (SG), with the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Digital Economy, Senator Jane Hume saying this is the worst possible time for such a rise to occur.
Questioned on the Government’s intentions, Hume acknowledged that the SG rise had been legislated, but then reinforced that its fate was ultimately going to be subject to an assessment by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, closer to the time,
Hume said that while the SG rise had been legislated it would come at a cost.
“The superannuation guarantee will increase by 0.5% in the middle of this year, but, you know, don’t for a second think that doesn’t come with a trade-off. Money doesn’t grow on trees and there is a good chance that if there is an additional cost to employers when they pay that extra 0.5% that it will come at the expense of potentially wage rises in the future,” she said.
“I don’t think that this could come at a worst time, but that said, it’s been in place for a long time and it is already legislated.”
“The Prime Minister has said that he will assess the situation closer to the time based on the best information available to him at the time, the best economic information available to him at the time. And I think that the Government demonstrated last year that it was able to act on information as it came to us because it’s – you know, it’s pretty moving feast to the economy at the moment,” Hume said.
