A national advertising campaign from a mining lobby is misleading Australians over the impact of the government's tax reforms on superannuation, according to Industry Super Network (ISN).
Claims made by the Mineral Council of Australia that the government's tax change will hurt workers' retirement savings simply do not stand up to scrutiny, ISN chief executive David Whiteley said.
"The mining lobby appear to have deliberately ignored some basic facts," Whiteley said.
Whiteley said the mining lobby group ignored the fact the resources super profits tax (RSPT) would fund an extension in tax concessions to super including an increase in the superannuation guarantee, tax breaks to low-income earners, and tax-effective contributions for over 50s.
"The combined impact of these measures over a worker's lifetime dwarfs any claimed direct impact on the value of mining shares owned by super funds," he said.
He said the mining lobby's belief that mining stocks plunged as a direct result of the RSPT when all stocks have fallen to a similar if not greater degree is deceitful.
"As large institutional shareholders, the super funds see merit in the capacity of the RSPT to smooth the income gains from the terms of trade boom," Whiteley said.
"As well as providing potentially a more stable inflationary environment for investment, the revenue from the RSPT will help boost every Australian's super balance."
He called for the big mining companies to negotiate the implementation details behind the tax with the government rather than "trying to mislead Australians over the impact on their super nest egg".
