Planners hit election trail over surcharge

Accounting and financial planning group Investment Taxation Specialists (ITS) has hit the hustings in the final days of the federal election campaign, in a last ditch attempt to get the superannuation surcharge abolished by an incoming government.

The group, with 15 proper authority holders in 12 offices spread across seven different electorates in NSW, has been actively lobbying individual candidates in those electorates in order to get a commitment from both major political parties to remove the surcharge.

The group has also written to local newspapers and radio stations urging all voters to confront political candidates on their positions on savings and the superannuation surcharge, and to support the candidate who demonstrates the most savings friendly policy.

ITS managing director Ross Anderson says the orchestrated lobbying effort is an attempt to shake politicians out of their short-term approach and complacency towards retirement savings.

“It may be unusual for a commercial organisation to lobby on a single issue, but we feel the matter to be of such gravity as to be in the national interest,” he says.

“We also believe that we can make a real difference in the seven constituencies in which our offices operate.”

The lobbying effort comes as the issues surrounding superannuation began to take some prominence in the latter half of the election campaign.

Last week, Federal Treasurer Peter Costello ruled a future Coalition government out of raising the level of compulsory employer superannuation contributions above the nine per cent they are scheduled to reach next year, despite coming under increasing industry fire over the adequacy of current superannuation savings.

Earlier in the campaign, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) released a poll that indicated up to two-thirds of voters in some marginal electorates are supportive of a progressive increase in superannuation contributions to 12 or 15 per cent.

Perpetual managing director Graham Bradley has also weighed into the debate, calling for compulsory contributions to be increased to 12 per cent over the next four years before being pushed even higher.

But Costello dismissed the calls, arguing that an increase in employer superannuation contributions could be detrimental to the Coalition’s core small business constituency.

“We certainly won’t be doing what the Labor party is doing, which is to put up superannuation contributions against small business,” he says.

Opposition treasury spokesperson Simon Crean has committed the Labor party to setting up a review of superannuation within 100 days of taking office, which would look at the adequacy of compulsory super contribution as well as the taxation of superannuation.