Freedom Go? Superannuation under threat

As a Vietnam Veteran, I am expressing my right to the freedom of expression I fought to protect. 

With the budget looming and the government looking at ways to increase revenue, superannuation looks to take a big hit – the ‘vision’ is no further than ‘there’s lots of money out there’.   Forget that to get a decent return on investment, much of this super is invested in the share market providing finance for Australian projects, the Great Whites determining the budget see it only as the biggest and easiest lot of sardines to round up, then bite into - after first having convinced/scared us over the years to put as much into super as we can on the premise we’d be looking after ourselves.

Then there is the social contract which is along the lines of work hard while you are able & we’ll help you out in your old age.  It now appears pensioners are considered unfair in seeking the pension as an entitlement, a blatant breach of this contract.  It is not as if pensioners are now no longer useful in society, as many of them contribute substantially in unpaid volunteer work.   If as a group, they suddenly withdrew their services, hospitals, schools and many other essential services would be crippled.  Others, meanwhile, have saved their hard earned money to buy a unit to travel around the country, spreading their money in many out of the way pockets as they go, as well as many of them volunteering in rural communities that are reliant on such help:  Blaze Aid is one example that received invaluable support from such people. 

While there is certainly a projected blowout in future pension payments, a bit of creative thinking could help solve the problem.  Certainly there are tax loopholes that could be reined in.  Perhaps surpluses could be set aside, some public assets that are sold also be earmarked and the monies invested in projects benefiting all Australians – oh, hang on!  That’s already been done with The Future Fund, that $100 billion plus taken out of general revenue and set aside for Commonwealth unfunded super liabilities (The Future Fund was established by the Future Fund Act 2006. The object of the fund is to strengthen the Australian Government's long term financial position by making provision for unfunded Commonwealth superannuation liabilities) – if only these ‘geniuses’ could look after the country as well as they look after themselves.