Superannuation will become a key election issue if the Govenrment uses the May Budget to deliver super tax changes which do not deliver equity, according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive, Tom Garcia.
Making his opening address to the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF), Garcia warned the Government against seeking to pursue a "quick fix" approach to super changes in the Budget.
He said he would be very disappointed if a quick fix approach was pursued in circumstances where Australians did not need superannuation to be used as a means of fixing a Budget hole.
"The super tax changes need to pass the test of fairness or super will become a major election issue," Garcia said.
Elsewhere in his opening address, Garcia also pointed to the "myth" of people needing $1 million in super to enable a comfortable retirement.
He said this simply was not true and that super needed to viewed in the context of access to the Age Pension.
In its pre-election policy document, the FSC highlighted 15 priority reforms, with superannuation featuring prominently, urging both major parties to avoid changing super taxes without a comprehensive tax review.
The Grattan Institute has labelled the Australian super system as “too complicated” and has proposed a three-pronged reform strategy to simplify superannuation in retirement.
Super funds delivered a strong 2024 result, with the median growth fund returning 11.4 per cent, driven by strong international sharemarket performance, new data has shown.
Australian Ethical has seen FUM growth of 27 per cent in the financial year to date.