Abbott revisits superannuation at your expense

THEN

House of Representatives Hansard STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 25 September 1995:

Superannuation

Mr ABBOTT —Compulsory superannuation is one of the biggest con jobs ever foisted by government on the Australian people. If the Prime Minister (Mr Keating) was a private businessman, chances are that he would be before the courts for false and misleading advertising. The basic objective of compulsory superannuation is that the government is taking our money now so that it does not have to pay us a pension when we retire. The government is making us worse off now so that it will be better off in the future.

Over the last six months, the employer of a constituent of mine has paid $993 into his compulsory superannuation fund. The fund charged $28 in administration, bookkeeping fees, et cetera, and earned $38 in interest. My constituent should have been $10 better off. However, the government has charged $208 in contributions tax so that my constituent is actually $198 worse off over the last six months. This is the fine print that the Prime Minister never tells you about—the fees, the charges and, above all, the taxes. I say to the voters of Australia, `Beware! There is no pot of gold at the end of the superannuation rainbow. Any money you put in is your money and you are certain to get back less than you put in.'

NOW

Tony Abbott’s Register of Member’s Interest Statement 21 October 2010:

MOPS Superannuation Scheme:

The Notional Employer Contribution Rate paid by the Commonwealth Government into the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme is 40.0% of total salaries, including additional allowances, at a nominal cost to taxpayers in 2013 of $822.3 million in projected accrued liabilities.

Australian Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott in his Budget Reply Speech of 16 May 2013 states he will not raise the compulsory superannuation contribution paid to Australian workers to 12 per cent:

I announce that we will delay by two years the ramp up in compulsory superannuation because this money comes largely from business  – not from government…..