When 'independence' depends on one's political philosophyBY DAVID GALLAGHER | THURSDAY, 23 FEB 2017 5:22PM I have been struck this past week by the politicisation of the term 'independence' when it is used in the context of superannuation fund governance. Indeed, the political philosophy ... Upgrade your subscription to access this article
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Well firstly I believe we are all political animals. Progressives or conservatives. As a corollary of that notion, people who sail under the flag of 'independent' also fall into one or the other camp.
Unions in Australia are mostly progressive and Employers (and their Associations) are mostly conservative.
There are Employers who have balanced views and a sense of justice and the same applies to Unions.
Unions and Employers regularly clash.
Universal Superannuation was promulgated by progressive Unions in response to the pre-existing (Defined Benefit) Super Funds which were mostly run by conservative Employers. That major reform could not have been achieved without the assistance of progressive Employers.
Rarely do Unions and Employers work on a venture together, but whenever they do they generally succeed.
Unions wanted to improve the lives of their members in retirement whilst many Employers desired to do likewise for their employees. Call it a form of paternalism if you like.
So the two parties have for many years worked together with only the interests of the Fund Members at heart as Directors of Industry Super Boards.
Over those years, both parties saw merit in including people with specialist skills on their Boards and that process of evolution is continuing.
By any measure, and over their entire life, Industry Super Funds have been remarkedly successful, partially due, I believe, to the fact that two traditional enemies have come together and striven to achieve a common goal, namely, the best possible retirement outcomes for the members.
The desire to change that model can in my view only be motivated by political bias!