Government slams Hockey’s Budget reply

The Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen, has criticised the Coalition's opposition to increasing the super guarantee to 12 per cent.

The Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, opposed an increase funded by the mining tax in his Budget speech yesterday at the National Press Club and claimed the Resources Super Profits Tax was a “blatant money grab”.

“It seems odd that taxing an industry so heavily should lift investment and growth ... It is not the role of government to collect taxes for anything more than the need to fund the necessary public services that have the support of the Australian people,” Hockey said.

However, Bowen said the Shadow Treasurer’s Budget reply was a huge disappointment for millions of Australians looking for bi-partisan support on a super guarantee increase.

“Increased superannuation savings will play a key role in financing Australia’s future infrastructure needs and will reduce our reliance on foreign funds,” Bowen said.

The Federal Opposition instead proposed $47 billion of savings by axing the computers for schools program, green initiatives and the plan to put all Medicare records on a centralised computer database.

Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) chief executive John Brogden called on the Opposition to reverse its decision to oppose the increase in the superannuation guarantee.

“Our research shows that Australians face a $690 billion savings gap and 9 per cent superannuation is simply not enough,” Brogden said.

The IFSA chief also highlighted that increasing the super guarantee rate to 12 per cent over a number of years combined with cuts in corporate tax would have ensured the increase was not a burden on industry.