with
LINDA BURNEY MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES
MEMBER FOR BARTON
and
STEPHEN JONES MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES
MEMBER FOR WHITLAM

119 days ago the Morrison Government received a report without any recommendations, which concluded the retirement incomes system is in good shape.

Why did they sit on this for almost four months before tipping it out on a Friday without a response?

The Prime Minister must rule out cuts to the pension and cuts to the legislated increases in the super guarantee.

This report justifies Australian workers’ fears that it’s a stalking horse for more cuts to their superannuation.

It’s conclusions about the wages-super trade-off does not stand up to scrutiny given wages were historically stagnant after the last time this Government froze the super guarantee.

A Government which has said weak wages growth is a “deliberate design feature” of their economic policy can’t be taken seriously on incomes before or after retirement.

The Retirement Income Review comes as the ACTU released new research finding that “the greatest cost” of a cut to the promised Superannuation Guarantee rise “will be a generation of Australians who will be forced to either work into their 70s in order to have sufficient savings in retirement, or live in poverty.”

The Liberals and Nationals cannot be allowed to use this recession as an excuse for more cuts to retirement incomes.

After attempting to cut the pension in every budget, after cutting penalty rates, and after presiding over the worst wages growth on record even before the recession, Scott Morrison is now ignoring all of the evidence, and trying to blame his wages growth crisis on the legislated super increase.

Does Scott Morrison seriously believe that cutting super will see wages rise by the same amount, let alone reverse the unprecedented period of wage stagnation seen under his Government?

The Morrison Government is tying itself in knots trying to claim that their super raiding scheme has had a negligible impact on workers’ retirement incomes at the same time as their own report highlights the massive damage inflicted on super balances, particularly for younger workers who stand to lose almost $100,000 in retirement.

In these uncertain times, workers need the legislated increase in the Super Guarantee to help rebuild their retirement balances and deserve a decent pension that allows older Australians to live with dignity.

FRIDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2020