Since taking on the superannuation portfolio, Chris Bowen has kept a relatively low profile. While the former superannuation minister Nick Sherry was very visible releasing statements and appearing at a variety of functions on a regular basis, Bowen cuts a very different figure.
To be fair, when the MP for the western Sydney seat of Prospect took on the portfolio in June, many of the wheels for change were already in motion, with the Henry tax review and the review into the governance, efficiency, structure and operation of Australia's superannuation system, known as the Cooper review, in full swing.
For now, the country's youngest cabinet minister, at age 36, seems to be focused on letting these reviews play out.
"What I hope comes out of this is that we have a stable, sustainable and equitable retirement income system. That way we won't need to have the regular yearly changes, which has happened for some time now," Bowen says.
"Obviously we are constantly looking at options to improve the system, but the main focus is working with these reviews to get a stable system on board."
However, there is more to Bowen than meets the eye.
Behind the quiet, considered exterior is a man who has launched himself firmly onto the centre stage of Australian politics at a swift rate. There is no show-ponying for this politician, just quiet, consistent work that gets results.
Growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, where he still makes his home to this day, with his childcare worker mother and a father who worked for the NRMA, Bowen joined the Labor Party to help redress the balance of what he perceived to be an inequitable situation.
"Coming from western Sydney I had the feeling that we weren't getting a fair deal. I saw a lot of other areas with a lot more resources, whether they be schools or hospitals or transport, and I worked out fairly quickly that the Labor Party was the only party that cared about people doing it tough or areas doing it tough," he says.
Reading and researching the Labor leaders of years gone by only served to cement his conviction and today he counts another great, Winston Churchill, among his political heroes.
In a recent interview, he said he "admires politicians who don't run away from a fight and are prepared to argue a case even though it might not be politically popular".
From his early beginnings in the suburb of Smithfield, Bowen didn't run away from any fights and rose through the ranks quickly.
He was elected to Fairfield City Council in 1995 and in 1998 he became one of Australia's youngest mayors, being elected for another term in 1999. He was elected to parliament in 2004 and then made the grade for Labor's frontbench.
Upon the election of the Rudd Labor government in 2007, he was appointed assistant treasurer and competition and policy and consumer affairs minister. This year he was elevated to the cabinet when he was given ministerial responsibility for superannuation, financial services and corporate law, and human services.
Bowen is humble when questioned about his quick rise at a relatively young age.
"I don't think about it much as I don't regard myself as a young cabinet minister, I regard myself as a minister who happens to be younger than the average, but I don't come at it with a particularly young perspective. I don't regard myself as being a new kid on the block or being particularly representative of people of my age group. I just do my job," he says.
And it is quite a job that he has been given. Bowen admits he did not have the superannuation portfolio - one that comes with a total of 30,000 staff and a budget of $100 million to oversee the $1 trillion industry - in mind and it wasn't an area he particularly coveted.
"You do the job the prime minister asks you to do. He asked me to run those portfolios and I said yes. I did express an interest in continuing to be involved in financial services, given the work that I had done as assistant treasurer," he says.
"In politics you can't have your eye on a particular job, you can't covet a portfolio. You can certainly have your portfolio interests but you can't let that dictate your career choice."
However, the Sydney University economics graduate retains a keen interest in financial services. "As assistant treasurer I've had some involvement with super even though Nick Sherry was the minister. Obviously as an economist I had an interest in the big difference that super has made to the economy, but as the minister you have to pay a lot more attention to some of the finer details and be across all of the developments, so that's been an interesting learning curve," he says.
The learning curve so far has included the fallout from the May federal budget and getting a handle on the Henry, Harmer and Cooper reviews.
His desire is that the current review process introduces an equitable system for all.
"I hope that after this we can have the system in place for a long time, without regular changes and, secondly, that it is sustainable so that future governments don't feel the need to pare it back. I would also like it to be equitable so that people at the lower end of the income spectrum have similar incentives for long-term savings through superannuation as people higher up the income spectrum," Bowen says.
"This is about setting up superannuation for the next 20 years."
But what of the argument that has been put forward by the opposition and others that there are too many reviews and it is too confusing for super fund members and the industry?
"I'll cop the criticism that we're doing too much consulting; sometimes we're criticised for doing the opposite of that," Bowen says.
"But the super system is almost 20 years old and it's time to have a look at it. I see these reviews not as a challenge but as a great opportunity. I just think it's a cheap shot from the opposition to say that there are too many reviews. What would they do; just make decisions without consulting?"
In another attack, the government has also been accused of playing favourites with industry funds over retail funds. This is especially in relation to the recent intra-fund advice announcement making it easier for super funds to give financial advice to their members.
"Providing short cuts to trustees at the expense of professional advice and solid consumer protections represents an ill-conceived case of poor public policy to curry favour with the industry fund movement," FPA chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch said at the time.
However, Bowen believes this argument is unsustainable.
"I've made it very clear that I'm not a champion for any particular part of the super industry and I've said to the retail sector and I've said to the industry sector that I will make decisions that they'll like and decisions that they don't like and each of them will be based on merits," he says.
In fact, Bowen would like to see the super industry be united rather than divided and says there is too much effort put in from both sides in knocking each other.
"I think it would be good for superannuation if people paid more attention to what is good for superannuation generally rather than what is good for industry or retail funds," he says.
"Look, I understand that there is vigorous competition between the two and that is a good thing, but there needs to be attention on what is good for superannuation overall and the rest will work itself out."
He says he has no interest in making decisions that benefit one sector over another.
"While that might be the effect of some of my decisions from time to time and they will go different ways, they will always be based on merit," he says.
Bowen has also been busy with the fallout from the budget due to some unpopular recommendations such as the cap on concessional contributions.
The recommendation that the age of access to superannuation be raised from 65 to 67 also caused consternation; and Bowen has some fairly strong views on this matter.
"It's not a recommendation that I support and it's not one that I would be adopting. To say to people that you can't access your super until you're 67 would in my view be too much of a disincentive to long-term savings," he says. Even when questioned about the age rise potentially assisting with the super adequacy issue, Bowen remains steadfast.
"I think longevity risk is an issue, but I don't think simply increasing the age you can access your super at would be an answer to it. It would simply move the goalposts of where longevity risk starts, but it wouldn't deal with the actual risk and people could still live for another 30 or 40 years after accessing their superannuation," he says.
Bowen, like many in the industry, would rather see an increase in the superannuation guarantee (SG) from the current rate of 9 per cent to 12 per cent or even 15 per cent.
"Look, I've said that we're working through the issues and the Henry review has said that 9 per cent is adequate, but the question you have to ask is that is adequate good enough?" he says.
While he says changing the SG would not be a simple thing, he insists it is an issue that needs to be examined.
"It is not something that should be ruled out and we should be looking at all the options because adequacy of post-retirement income is a good thing for the individual and the nation," he says.
Fee levels is another area Bowen feels passionate about and he says he will work with the Cooper review to set a level.
"I don't have a particular target in mind although 1 per cent has been mentioned. I think that super has grown massively as a sector and there should be more economies of scale in terms of fee reductions and I think that that figure is achievable," he says.
"Obviously I would like to see fees lower rather than higher and I'm not going to make any comments on particular funds, but I think it's always better if fees are lower."
Turning towards the future, what does Bowen see ahead, both politically and personally?
"In the portfolio I see my main job to be settling these reviews and getting a stable long-term view for super and when I leave the portfolio, if I've done that, then that would be something I would be pleased about," he says.
"I'm simply doing the job the Prime Minister gave me and one day he'll give me a different job."
And could that the different job be treasurer?
Bowen remains mum, but with his background in economics it is a definite possibility. His current reading material may also provide some clues to his aspirations.
"The book I'm reading right now is The Storm by Vince Cable, who is the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom, and I recently read Roy Jenkins' biography of Gladstone, the prime minister of Great Britain at the end of the 19th century," he says.
"There tends to be a political bent. I do read novels as well, but I particularly like economics and history."
So in the meantime Bowen is content to spend his downtime with his family as he waits for the PM's next call.
"Relaxing is always a challenge. I like to read and often at the end of a hard day I'll get my history book or my novel out and spend half an hour winding down reading. I've also got two young kids and they tend to be a natural relaxant," he says.
With the Cooper review due to hand down its final report to the government by June 2010, the industry will be watching with interest to see what this quiet achiever does next.
