Not a lot has come from the reviews into Australia's super system to date, opposition spokesperson Chris Pearce says.
The Cooper Review should be abolished, according to opposition spokesperson and former shadow minister for financial services and superannuation Chris Pearce.
Speaking at the SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) conference in Melbourne yesterday, he said if he had things his way he would abolish the Cooper Review into Superannuation today.
Pearce said during last year's SPAA Conference that there were around 23 reviews, consultations and committees looking into superannuation in Australia, so he didn't expect too much to come out of the Cooper Review in 2010.
"There was also a review announced by the government into self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) in February 2008, which also has not been concluded. So I'd say if you look at the track record, not a lot has come from the reviews into Australia's super system to date," Pearce said.
The danger with such reviews and the number of them that were currently or had been carried out was that they undermined confidence in the super industry, he said.
"Every time Australians start to think their future and wealth management strategies are mapped out for them, the goal post is moved yet again," Pearce said.
While Australia's superannuation system and more specifically the SMSF sector could do with some fine tuning and improvement, it was a robust but not a broken system.
"If the Cooper Review focuses on fine tuning the superannuation industry rather than fixing it, then the outcomes of the review could be really positive," Pearce said.
"With a federal election coming up, however, I wouldn't be surprised that come June, when the government is due to report on the Cooper Review, that nothing controversial is announced.
"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the government announced a review of the Cooper review."
Meanwhile, another issue that Pearce said was on the radar last year and was likely to be raised again this year was whether a minimum balance needed to be introduced for those wanting to establish an SMSF.
The two non-consecutive alphabetic letters encountered most often last week caused more controversy than the underlying policy they represented, Wouter Klijn writes.... read more »
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