Addressing the Committee for Sustainable Retirement Incomes in Canberra yesterday, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg restated the government’s commitment not to make any “adverse or unexpected” change to super in the current term.
“In contrast to the Opposition and after years of constant change, we are providing a period of stability and certainty,” Mr Frydenberg said.
The government is currently in the middle of its tax white paper process (tagged as ‘Re:Think’) and has also pledged to respond to the recommendations of the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) by the end of the year.
“The government will of course consider good ideas put forward as part of the tax white paper process and any changes recommended by that process will be taken to the Australian people at the next election,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“In contrast, the Opposition has announced two new superannuation taxes – one dealing with contributions and the other with tax-free earnings in retirement. These policies have been poorly designed and their impacts grossly misrepresented.”
When it comes to retirement income streams, Mr Frydenberg said he hoped to make an announcement in the “not too distant future”.
“To be clear, we are not considering increasing the current rates, but rather making sure the system allows for innovative retirement products to be developed,” he said.
“We have also been looking more broadly at the range of post‑retirement products currently available.”
Comprehensive income products for retirement, or ‘CIPRs’ (pronounced ‘sippers’) were also on the assistant treasurer’s agenda.
“The FSI recommended that members should be offered a combination of underlying products that provide a better trade-off between flexibility, income and risk management. These products would be bundled into a comprehensive income products for retirement,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“The government would play a role in determining minimum design features for these products. However, their design would vary to accommodate different types of retirees. This would avoid a ‘one size fits all approach’, and provide flexibility to meet the needs of individual members.
“The government is currently considering its position on this recommendation, together with the rest of the FSI’s recommendations,” Mr Frydenberg said.
