Morrison Government must not shift goal posts on super

Any move by the Morrison Government to heed the calls of a partyroom ginger group and walk back on the legislated super guarantee would leave Australians worse off at retirement, Industry Super Australia (ISA) warned today.

Reports today that some parts of the Morrison Government want the Government to break its promise and deny workers an increase in super contributions should concern every Australian.

Every Australian deserves the right to a financially secure retirement and the super guarantee was established to deliver just that.

The super guarantee is a safety net – just like Medicare. It was established to help ease the burden on the age pension, and ensure that every Australian could retire without having to worry about making ends meet.

The increase from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent has been agreed to and even legislated – and now a small minority of MPs want to shift the goal posts and deny Australians the increase they are entitled to.

Any attempt to wind back the legislated increase will not only leave Australians with less money at retirement, it will increase the burden of the age pension on the taxpayer – meaning everyone pays.

ISA analysis shows the damage delaying the super guarantee increase can have on a person’s super balance, with the average worker at the cusp of retirement already nearly $100,000 worse off as a result of continued delays to increases in super since its establishment 25 years ago.

Further analysis shows that freezing the super guarantee at 9.5 per cent will see a 30-year-old earning $80,000 robbed of $90,000 in super by the time they reach retirement.

Prior to the Federal election, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ruled out any change to the legislated super guarantee increase.

/Public Release.