The Federal Opposition has recommitted to reducing superannuation tax concessions to high account balance holders and to rejecting the Government’s governance changes to superannuation fund trustee boards.
The Shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, has used an address to the Financial Services Council (FSC) annual conference to describe the Government’s pursuit of superannuation trustee board governance changes as the attempted creation of “a wedge”.
In doing so, he claimed the governance changes would effectively destroy the 50/50 employer/worker mix on industry super fund boards.
Elsewhere I his address, Bowen committed to pursuing a bipartisan statement of purpose for superannuation with the underlying objective being for Australian people being able to fund a dignified retirement without having to resort to more than a part age pension.
“That has to be a starting objective,” he said.
However, the Shadow Treasurer said it would be wrong to pursue such an objective without taking into account the sustainability of the superannuation system, which was why the Australian Labor Party remained committed to reducing the superannuation tax concessions to those with high account balances – those with $1.5 million in super savings.
Bowen claimed that while the Government might dismiss the Opposition’s concerns about the sustainability of superannuation tax concessions, they were something the Government would ultimately have to address.
