Nick Sherry
The Federal Opposition has given its formal support to the superannuation changes announced by the Government in the May Budget.
After refusing to give better than indicative support to the Budget changes in the absence of formal Government costings, the Opposition spokesman on superannuation, Senator Nick Sherry, said the Australian Labor Party had decided to support the package following its finalisation by the Government on Tuesday.
“It is in the interests of stability and certainty in our compulsory superannuation system and provides some improvements to simplicity and incentives,” he said.
Sherry said that while the Opposition had consulted widely on the Budget package with a range of groups, its task had been made difficult by the Government’s refusal to provide detailed costings.
While confirming support for the Budget superannuation package, Sherry said he believed the Government needed to reconsider the tax increase on contributions from 15 per cent to 46.5 per cent for employees where employers failed to provide a tax file number.
He claimed more than a million Australians could be hurt by the measure, most of whom would be in the low to middle income bracket.
Super funds have built on early financial year momentum, as growth funds deliver strong results driven by equities and resilient bonds.
The super fund has announced that Mark Rider will step down from his position of chief investment officer (CIO) after deciding to “semi-retire” from full-time work.
Rest has joined forces with alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital, co-investing in a real estate trust, with the aim of capitalising on systemic changes in debt financing.
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.