The leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley has stated that a Labor government may legally require superannuation funds to vote with shareholders at company meetings.
Beazley, speaking from the Conference of Major Super Funds (CMSF) at the Gold Coast in Queensland this morning, says this move would force the executives and boards of these companies to be more accountable to shareholders, which in many instances includes superannuation funds.
The reason for the push is that most Australian workers now contribute to some type of superannuation fund which in turn gives them an interest in the running and governance of listed companies.
At present the voting level of shareholders in Australian companies is very low with only about 41 per cent of shares voted on average in person or by proxy according to Beazley.
He says if his party is successful at the upcoming election and the voting figures do not increase within two years, his government would look at laws forcing superannuation fund trustees to vote.
This push by the Opposition comes after it has stated it would work on improving the level of voting by shareholders in a bid to make executive pay packages more transparent and improving the disclosure of company information to shareholders.
The comments come only a day after the Shadow Treasurer Simon Crean said at the conference that the Labor Party would begin an independent review of retirement income policies if it wins the next election.
He says a review would deal with issues such as superannuation and social security, encouraging people to work beyond 65, getting better integration of retirement incomes with health care and improving the security of the system.
