Lift SG regardless of MRRT: Reynolds

The superannuation industry wants an increase in the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, with or without the implementation of a Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT), according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive Fiona Reynolds (pictured).

Reynolds has told a Q&A session at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) on the Gold Coast that notwithstanding the Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten’s call for superannuation industry support for an MRRT, her organisation was simply supporting an increase in the SG.

“We are not saying we want a mining tax – we want an increase in the SG. If the MRRT fell over we’d still want an increase in the SG,” she said.

Earlier, the chief executive of Alliance Bernstein, Michael Bargholz said he could see the logic in using the profits from the mining boom to fund improved superannuation.

However, Bargholz also warned that there existed a risk of the proposed new MySuper regime creating a “housing commission version of superannuation in Australia”.

At the same time, the managing director of Franklin Templeton in Australia, Marie Wilton, warned there was a danger that the appropriate delivery of a workable MySuper could be jeopardised by the “big personalities” involved in the debate.

“They are adopting adversarial positions that could threaten reform,” she said.