Parliamentarians not sharing the super sacrifices
The superannuation guarantee (SG) should be lifted beyond the targeted 12% to 15% as originally envisaged.
That is the assessment of one of the founders of the SG, former Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Bill Kelty alongside the former Federal Parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party, Dr John Hewson.
Speaking during an Emergency Superannuation Summit organised by the ACTU, Kelty suggested that if it was good enough for Parliamentarians to receive 15.6% in superannuation, 15% represented a realistic target for ordinary workers.
Hewson said that with respect to hardship early release superannuation, the Government was inflicting all the pain on ordinary workers without at the same time accepting any of the pain itself.
He said parliamentarians had expected workers to take pay cuts, use up annual leave and take early access to their superannuation while they, the parliamentarians themselves, had not made any similar sacrifices.
“They have not shown leadership,” he said.
The ACTU Emergency Summit has been held ahead of next week’s Federal Budget where there are predictions that the Government will not only impose a further freeze on lifting the SG but also extend the hardship early release regime.
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