Gov’t leads narrowly on policy

The Federal Government may have used its 2006 Budget to introduce some of the biggest-ever changes to superannuation in Australia, but industry participants appear strongly divided on which of the major political parties have the best superannuation policies.

The IUS/Super Review survey, conducted in March and April, pointed out that a Federal Election is due to be held later this year and asked which party respondents believed had outlined the best policies relating to superannuation.

The result proved to be much closer than expected, with 52.9 per cent of respondents nominating the Liberal/National Coalition (Federal Government), while 47.1 per cent nominated the Australian Labor Party (Federal Opposition).

It is worth noting that the survey was held prior to the handing down of the Federal Budget, but after the Opposition Treasury spokesman, Wayne Swan, had fleshed out the Australian Labor Party’s superannuation approach during an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia luncheon.

Also impacting on the survey outcome was the fact that a large number of responses had been obtained during the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds on the Gold Coast — an event with a heavy industry superannuation funds involvement.

When the results of the survey were weighted according to the calling of the respondent, it was found that industry superannuation fund executives and trustees tended to favour Australian Labor Party policy, while financial advisers and fund managers were more favourably disposed towards the Government.