Coalition restates opposition to 12 per cent SG

The Federal Opposition has restated its intention to oppose the Government’s intended increase in the superannuation guarantee (SG) from 9 per cent to 12 per cent, with its Financial Services spokesman Senator Mathias Cormann (pictured) arguing it will result in a decrease in take-home pay.

Cormann has referenced the findings of the Henry Tax Review to justify the Coalition’s opposition to raising the SG, as well as the fact that the Henry Review stressed that the burden of any further increase beyond 9 per cent would impact “most heavily on low and middle income earners”.

Cormann said that rather than having money directed towards a higher SG, families with mortgages should be allowed to use the extra income to pay off their mortgage faster or deal with increasing cost of living pressures.

“Since coming to office, Labor has made it harder for Australians to plan for their retirement,” he said. “In its first term, Labor decided to halve concessional contribution caps after promising before the election not to.”

Cormann said the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, continued to ignore important recommendations by the Cooper Review to improve corporate governance arrangements, transparency and competitiveness in the superannuation industry.

“It is time Bill Shorten started to make some hard decisions,” he said. “It is time he started to drive the necessary reforms to corporate governance of superannuation funds. It is time he started to ensure an open, transparent and competitive process when it comes to the selection of default superannuation funds under modern awards.”