Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

All of the baby boomers of Australia will start to turn 65 from next year. There are four and a half million baby boomers and it is important that they do not retire into poverty. So we have a plan to increase people’s superannuation from nine to 12 per cent. It is because of Labor that we have $1.2 trillion in retirement income available today and we have a superannuation system in Australia.

Indeed, these proposals have been well received not only by senior Australians, Choice and the trade union movement but also by the Financial Services Council of Australia. I will inform you of the views of the CEO of the Financial Services Council of Australia:

The research shows the longer we delay the move to 12 per cent superannuation, the greater the cost for working Australians.

Mr Speaker, you are probably aware that the CEO of the Financial Services Council of Australia is none other than John Brogden, the former Liberal leader in New South Wales. He gets it. The people get it. We understand that we need to move from nine to 12 per cent. Labor has a plan for our superannuation. I invite the coalition: it is not too late to come on board. You should get behind increasing superannuation from nine to 12 per cent and doing something for the retirement incomes of all Australians, just as the Gillard Labor government is doing.

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