Liberal and National MPs look to halt SG rise

The legislated rise in superannuation guarantee (SG) in July is being fought by a dozen Liberal and National MPs and senators, according to AustralianSuper chair, Don Russell. 

A report by the Sydney Morning Herald said Russell called this move “puzzling” and “odd” as the Coalition had historically valued light-handed government regulation and individual choice. 

Russell said super allowed workers to try to self-fund their retirement which would provide more financial freedom than reliance on the Age Pension. However, some Coalition backbenchers wanted people to have more choice during their working life instead. 

Pointing to the campaign to allow first home buyers to access their super for a home deposit, Russell said this would not solve the affordability issue and was at odds with the government’s Retirement Income Review. The review found the majority of retirees owned a property despite affordability being a concern for 30 years. 

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“If you start giving early access to first-home buyers, then it’s really destructive because in the first instance what we’re doing is providing the wherewithal for people to further bid up prices, but you’re also undermining the wealth generating capacity of superannuation,” Russell said. 

“I think governments have to think very carefully about embracing notions which may appear very popular in the polling but you can be confident will make the situation worse.”