A self-confessed superannuation nerd, Minister Bill Shorten has confessed to being “utterly excited by superannuation” and, in quieter moments, reflecting on the “sheer size of our system”.
Speaking on Friday at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Investment Forum in Melbourne, Shorten used the opportunity to again sell the benefits of the council of superannuation custodians operating within a charter of superannuation adequacy and sustainability.
However, the minister for financial services and superannuation began his address with a homage to the national savings system.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today a confessed superannuation nerd,” he said. “I am utterly excited by superannuation. In my quieter moments, I often stop and think about the sheer size of our system.
“It has occurred to me, if we amassed the entirety of Australia’s $1.5-trillion superannuation saving, you could build 12 stacks of $1 coins all the way to the moon and those stacks would weigh the same as 135 of the US navy’s largest aircraft carriers.”
An even more remarkable system
Shorten promised that the superannuation system will become “more remarkable” in the future.
“Yesterday I released a discussion paper seeking views from industry and the community more broadly about the eventual establishment of a council of superannuation custodians, whose task will be to advise on whether any proposed changes to Australia’s superannuation system are consistent with an agreed charter of superannuation adequacy and sustainability,” he said.
“The council itself would be an impartial, expert and apolitical body that is able to act as the stewards of the superannuation system, reporting to Parliament on its sustainability and its prospects for attaining the vision the nation has for it.
“The proposal does not take decisions about superannuation from the parliament in the way the Reserve Bank now does over interest rates.
“But the broad principle of protecting the collective wealth of the Australian people from short-term political considerations, by putting it under the stewardship of a neutral council that people can trust, is similar.
“That’s why I think of the council and its charter broadly as a ‘reserve bank for super’ – helping the parliament make decisions about super calmly and apolitically in the way that the Reserve Bank makes decisions about interest rates calmly and apolitically.”
Beyond the news cycle
Shorten added that thinking around superannuation need to look beyond the next budget, the 24-hour news cycle, next week’s news poll or the September election.
“I’m thinking about the fact that in 25 years Australia’s superannuation pool will grow to $6 trillion, which will be almost twice the size of our GDP,” he said.
“That’s why the charter and the custodians are important – because they require all future governments, Labor or Liberal, to implement superannuation policies which are in the long-term national interest.”
The only thing wrong with Bill calling himself a Super Nerd is that he got the first two letters of Nerd wrong. It is actually T and u.
Anyone else out there sick of hearing “… making it a fairer system … for all Australians …” from these politicians without comment on the superannuation system they benefit from?
Bill Shorten is by far the worst Minister for Superannuation ever. His focus has only been on atatcking the superannuation honey pot to fund poor Government spending policies
You must be kidding me, if the Minister for Superannuation is thinking this:
“It has occurred to me, if we amassed the entirety of Australia’s $1.5-trillion superannuation saving, you could build 12 stacks of $1 coins all the way to the moon and those stacks would weigh the same as 135 of the US navy’s largest aircraft carriers.”
What the?
No wonder nothing good has come from this guy yet.
He’s not focussed on the things that count…Question: how many dollar coins to I need to put on top of each other to reach the height of Shorten’s hypocracy chart…? Answer: There’s simply not enough in circulation.
Give the Canberra Mint a call, they’ll need to start producing more coins without delay….