Government wasting time ideological pursuit of industry funds: Labor
The Federal Coalition Government is being accused of wasting the Standing Committee on Economics' time by focusing on an ideological pursuit of whether union representatives should be on the boards of superannuation funds according to a Labor MP.
Speaking in the House of Representatives following the presentation of the committee's Review of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's annual report, Labor member for Chifley Ed Husic, said the Government's concerns about the governance of industry funds did not seem to fit with the moves it had taken in recent times.
"I cannot fathom why there would be so much focus on this when there have been bigger issues that warrant attention," he said.
"We have had repeated calls for a royal commission into the practices of some in this space that have been rejected by the Coalition.
"So, if they are not interested in pursuing proper governance practices within the broader sector as we and others have demanded…it beggars belief that we would waste the bulk of the committee's time pursuing an ideological obsession about whether there should be union representatives on super boards having an impact on the quality of investment decisions that cover their members."
Husic warned that the committee "cannot afford to have a narrowcast ideological focus on some matters to the extent that they obliterate or diminish proper focus on other key issues that have a greater economic impoact".
Husic's comments followed criticism of the numbers of directors on industry superannuation fund boards and how much union-nominated directors are being paid, by Brisbane-based financial planner, Philip Burke of Entrust Solutions, as reported by Money Management.
AUTHOR
Nicholas O'Donoghue
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