Shorten’s super Bill great news for his union mates

The increase in superannuation from 9 to 12 per cent, being rushed through Parliament by Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, will be a great boon to industry super funds and in turn the union officials who are typically appointed to up to half the board director positions of such funds, Member for Bradfield, Paul Fletcher told Parliament today.

The boards of industry super funds are stuffed with union bosses.  They include AWU boss Paul Howes, Queensland ALP heavyweight and AWU strongman Bill Ludwig, TWU secretary Tony Sheldon, Health Services Union chief Kathy Jackson and New South Wales Electrical Trades Union supremo Bernie Riordan.

It cannot be a coincidence that this Bill is the handiwork of the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, a former union official and former director of an industry superannuation fund.  No doubt his former colleagues sitting on the boards of industry superannuation funds will be thankful because a key feature of the industry superannuation system is the large number of well paid directorships to be allocated amongst the union mates.

The annual report of one industry fund, CBUS, reveals that two directors—one presumably the chair—receive over $90,000 a year and several other directors receive more than $50,000 a year.   Disclosure in this area is scant but it seems that, in some cases, fees paid to directors of industry superannuation funds are pocketed by the individual union nominated directors and, in other cases, the fees are paid to the union. In either case the arrangements suit the union movement very nicely.

Mr Fletcher told Parliament that Labor’s new modern awards system is streaming a growing share of compulsory superannuation contributions into the industry funds, and now Bill Shorten’s increase from 9 to 12 per cent will be a further boost.

There is a very cosy and convenient arrangement and relationship between this government, the union movement and industry superannuation funds.  That raises real questions as to what is really motivating this government in increasing contributions from 9 per cent to 12 per cent.