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10 September 2025 by Adrian Suljanovic

Are big banks entering a new cost-control cycle?

Australia’s biggest banks have axed thousands of jobs despite reporting record profits over the year, fuelling concerns over cost-cutting, offshoring ...
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How $2.68tn is spread across products and investments

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Could the coalition be good for industry funds?

  •  
By Christine St Anne
  •  
3 minute read

Two days before election day and there is still no super policy announcement from the opposition, but one thing is likely if the coalition comes to power and that is the scrapping of MySuper.

By next week Tony Abbott could be prime minister. 

Despite the coalition failing to so far announce any superannuation policy of its own, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey slammed MySuper at last week's Financial Services Council (FSC) annual conference.

Mimicking earlier comments made by FSC chief John Brogden, Hockey said the initiative was paternalistic and would entrench disengagement.

Hockey instead spoke about "enhancements" to the system, ruling out a blanket ban on commissions.

A coalition poll victory could therefore mean no MySuper, with the financial planning industry still drawing on commissions.

There may be something to be said for maintaining the status quo.

Speaking at the same conference, but on a different topic, a chief executive of an industry fund recalled a conversation he had with Cooper review chief Jeremy Cooper

"Cooper said to me: 'Why are you whinging [about MySuper]; you already have a low-cost product?'" the industry fund CEO said.

"'I know that', I told him, 'but I don't necessarily want others to have this product as well'." 

Already BT Financial Group and AMP have launched simple, low-cost products.

Maybe MySuper was the driver behind these recent initiatives or perhaps it is a reflection of good public policy, that is, the industry super model works.

I spoke with Cooper at the FSC conference and asked him whether the future of super could be dominated by the major banks.

He admitted to me that was possibility given their extensive branch and automated teller machine network.

"In the end any changes will benefit the member," he said.

Super policy is, of course, more than MySuper. Adequacy remains critical. The Labor government has committed to an increase in the superannuation guarantee levy; a commitment the coalition won't accept.

Hockey indeed dubbed it an "impulse" rather than a well-thought-out policy.

But coming back to Cooper's comments regarding the major banks: it would be a shame to see super simply as a commoditised product.

Whichever party moves into government, let's hope it adopts a considered approach to retirement policy.