The superannuation industry wants an increase in the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, with or without the implementation of a Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT), according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive Fiona Reynolds.
Reynolds has told a Q&A session at the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) on the Gold Coast that notwithstanding the Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten’s call for superannuation industry support for an MRRT, her organisation was simply supporting an increase in the SG.
“We are not saying we want a mining tax — we want an increase in the SG. If the MRRT fell over we’d still want an increase in the SG,” she said.
Earlier, the chief executive of Alliance Bernstein, Michael Bargholz said he could see the logic in using the profits from the mining boom to fund improved superannuation.
However, Bargholz also warned that there existed a risk of the proposed new MySuper regime creating a “housing commission version of superannuation in Australia”.
At the same time, the managing director of Franklin Templeton in Australia, Marie Wilton, warned there was a danger that the appropriate delivery of a workable MySuper could be jeopardised by the “big personalities” involved in the debate.
“They are adopting adversarial positions that could threaten reform,” she said.
The Super Members Council has outlined a bold reform plan to boost productivity, lift retirement savings, and unlock super’s full potential.
Women beginning their careers in 2025 could retire with hundreds of thousands of dollars more in super due to the 12 per cent super guarantee rate, HESTA modelling shows.
The two funds have announced the signing of a non-binding MOU to explore a potential merger.
The board must shift its focus from managing inflation to stimulating the economy with the trimmed mean inflation figure edging closer to the 2.5 per cent target, economists have said.