The standard of living of ordinary workers in retirement would suffer if the federal government stopped the increase in super, says Macarthur MP, Dr Mike Freelander.
The Labor MP has lambasted reports the Coalition Government is considering back flipping on the Superannuation Guarantee increase.
Under the Guarantee, employee contributions to employers’ superannuation funds had been scheduled to increase from 9.5 percent to 12 percent between now and 2027.
“The Liberals have opposed every increase in the Superannuation Guarantee since the scheme came into being, and it seems as though they are back to their same old tricks,” Dr Freelander said.
A failure of the Morrison Government to adhere to this guaranteed increase is an attack on workers and their standard of living in retirement.
“With record low wages growth and a stagnating economy, it is reprehensible that the Coalition Government is considering a backflip on the Guarantee,” he said.
“This is an attack on the savings of retirees, coming from the same government that sees fit to lift the retirement age to 70.
“If the government backflips now, Australians will be losing out of billions of dollars in retirement savings.
“Superannuation has been one of the saving graces of our economy,’’ Dr Freelander said.
“Our $3 trillion pool of capital in superannuation funds is going to be critical in our economic recover post-Covid.
“The Morrison Government’s failure to provide adequate economic support throughout this crisis has tragically resulted in more than 500,000 Australians completely wiping out their superannuation savings.
“Any further attack on the retirement savings of working Australians is ill-informed and nothing more than a blatant ideological attack on the working class of Australia.”
