The Federal Opposition will take another look at concessional contribution cap limits if it wins the September election, the Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Mathias Cormann, told a Super Review breakfast.
However, a policy position could not be reached until the Opposition was able to properly assess the Budget, he said.
"We don't know the starting position of the Budget because we don't trust [Wayne] Swan," he said.
He said the Government's recent decision to increase concessional cap limits to $35,000 was better than what existed previously, but no attention had been paid to non-concessional cap limits and breaches — which was an area the Opposition would assess.
He recommitted to delaying the super guarantee increase to 2021, and said that if a Liberal-led Government won the election it would require industry super funds to have one third independent directors and would ensure default settings allowed any MySuper product to qualify.
"We don't see any reason for another layer of bureaucracy," Cormann said.
Similarly, he said the Council of Super Custodians created unnecessary red tape and a situation where the Government delegated its decisions to a board of vested interests.
"We already have a Council of Super Custodians — it's the Australian public," Cormann said.
He highlighted retirement product innovation as an important future focus area.
The future of superannuation policy remains uncertain, with further reforms potentially on the horizon as the Albanese government seeks to curb the use of superannuation as a bequest vehicle.
Superannuation funds will have two options for charging fees for the advice provided by the new class of adviser.
The proposed reforms have been described as a key step towards delivering better products and retirement experiences for members, with many noting financial advice remains the “urgent missing piece” of the puzzle.
APRA’s latest data has revealed that superannuation funds spent $1.3 billion on advice fees, with the vast majority sent to external financial advisers.