At a press conference at Parliament House on Monday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told attendees to expect an announcement related to the local super industry.
“We will have more to say – Stephen and I – later in the week around superannuation and the retirement phase,” Chalmers said in Canberra.
While the Treasurer did not expand on what the update in question would be, he affirmed that the government would continue to pursue its legislative agenda in the Senate.
“In and around the Parliament, the government has a very full agenda that we’re looking to progress through the Senate and outside the Parliament as well and so there will be a lot of activity [and] a lot of action over the course of the next couple of weeks.”
Jones and Chalmers were also asked about its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Cook Islands, which allowed the transfer of retirement savings between the two countries, and whether Australia was looking at the broader Pacific island nations to expand its scheme.
Namely, last week the government announced it had signed an MOU with the Cook Islands to allow portability of retirement savings.
On Tuesday, Chalmers said the partnership is “extensive and enduring and critically important to us”, but added that the Cook Islands holds unique characteristics, chief being that its people are also citizens of New Zealand.
“We have a superannuation agreement with New Zealand, which wasn’t flowing through to the people of Cook Islands, and in effect, what that deal does is equalise the arrangements between New Zealand and the Cook Islands,” the Treasurer said.
“Our priority has been to work with our Pacific island nations over the last two years to ensure that we can secure correspondent banking in the Pacific, and we’re making tremendous progress in that area. But of course, we’ll work through the other issues in relation to superannuation.”
Busy month for super
A number of super funds and industry bodies appeared at last Thursday’s Senate economics committee hearing, with senator Andrew Bragg asking tough questions of some of the country’s most prominent industry reps.
Notably, Bragg doubled down on super funds regarding their contributions to unions and how they are handling regulatory fines, emphasising that they appear to be “working hard for unions, not people”, and alleging that funds spend some $40 million per annum on unions and related parties.
Earlier in the day, the CEO of Cbus also fronted the committee where he defended the fund’s relationship with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, divulging that the fund enjoys “huge benefit” from its financial support of the controversial union.
Cbus CEO Kristian Fok said the benefits include direct communication with the construction industry, as well as raising awareness about the fund’s unique offerings.
Moreover, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia and Super Members Council used their time to issue a stark warning: allowing early access to superannuation for housing deposits would deal a devastating blow to both the housing market and retirement savings.
