Super lobby accused of vested interest
The major superannuation organisations and their executives have been described as having a "vested interest" in seeking to have the Government upgrade the objective of superannuation beyond merely supplementing the Age Pension.
In a provocative appearance before a Parliamentary Committee this week, Grattan Institute chief executive, Professor John Daley urged members of the Senate Economics Committee reviewing the Government's legislation to not be swayed by the urgings of the major superannuation organisations.
He urged the committee to endorse the Government's legislative approach and ignore pleadings for amendments, arguing "the vast majority of submissions are made by those who represent either the superannuation industry or people who work for them".
"It is not surprising that a bill which says that super is in fact not the centre of the universe is not meeting with their approval," he said. "But, if we are to hold up a bill simply because it does not serve the vested interests of the superannuation industry, then I would suggest that our system is fundamentally broken."
"The system has to think, ‘What is in the best interests of Australians?' rather than, ‘What is in the best interests of the superannuation industry?' Consequently, we think that the bill as drafted should receive the support of the Senate," Professor Daley said.
However evidence delivered to the committee by representatives of the Financial Services Council (FSC), Industry Super Australia (ISA), the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) all challenged the claims of the Grattan Institute and the level of wealth held by Australians outside of superannuation.
In a joint approach, both ASFA and AIST argued for the pursuit of a comfortable standard with AIST's David Haynes stating: "The question for us is: ‘What is an adequate level of superannuation beyond the Age Pension? It is that which is sufficient to provide a comfortable and dignified retirement?'".
ASFA's Glen McCrea said it was really important to be very clear about what the objective is.
"…and the benchmark for us is a comfortable standard. So, for a couple, we are looking at $59,000 and for a single, $43,000. The reality is that only 20 per cent of Australians achieve that at the moment," he said.
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