HANDS OFF OUR SUPER

AN excellent letter from Andrew Collins (CP 17/05) but he missed mentioning Scott Morrison’s ongoing attacks on people’s super balances.

First Morrison encouraged/ authorised people to withdraw from their super to pay cost-ofliving expenses, now he is advocating using super for purchasing houses. With the housing market grossly overpriced, this can only be a disaster in waiting. When the market stabilises, property prices will go down and their asset will not be worth what they still owe on it, but they will have lost money that should have been put towards their retirement.

When the Keating/Hawke government introduced superannuation it was with the twofold intention of providing a comfortable income for retirees and reducing the demands of the age pension on government.

This would have saved the country millions of dollars over time, and given security in retirement for thousands of workers. Naturally, the LNP hated it and have been trying to undermine it ever since, from delaying super contribution increases to lacklustre oversight of unscrupulous employers’ failure to remit the contributions to the super funds. Penalties for what is essentially wage theft are negligible, not one director has faced criminal charges or prison sentences. So, regardless of the obvious benefit to the country and the people, LNP continues to cut off its nose to spite its face with its shortsighted policies. Ron Shaw, Miallo