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.
“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.”
Vanguard Super has reported strong returns across most of its investment options, attributed to a “low-cost, index-based approach”.
The fund has achieved double-digit returns amid market volatility, reinforcing the value of long-term investment strategies for its members.
Australian super funds notched a third consecutive year of strong returns, with the median balanced option delivering an estimated 10.1 per cent over the 2024-25 financial year, but an economist has warned that the rally may be harder to sustain as key risks gather pace.
AustralianSuper has reported a 9.52 per cent return for its Balanced super option for the 2024–25 financial year, as markets delivered another year of strong performance despite the complex investing environment.