Labor leader Anthony Albanese attacks welfare lobby over super hike

Anthony Albanese will attack the Australian Council of Social Service over its opposition to increasing compulsory superannuation.

Anthony Albanese cuts a cake welcoming ‘Albo’ to Inala with 103-year-old No Luu at a Vietnamese seniors event on Tuesday in Inala, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Anthony Albanese will attack the Australian Council of Social Service over its opposition to increasing compulsory superannuation to 12 per cent and warn businesses they must hire older Australians in a speech outlining Labor’s plan to combat ageing pressures on the economy.

In a vision statement being ­delivered in Brisbane on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader will say governments cannot “legislate the cultural change” to keep workers aged over 45 in jobs for longer.

Mr Albanese, who is pressing employers to “play their part”, will say a 3 per cent rise in workforce participation by Australians aged over 55 would generate a $33bn boost to the economy each year.

“Just as Australians are living longer, they are staying in the workforce longer,” Mr Albanese will say. “Today, 72,500 Australians aged between 55 and 64 are unemployed, just when they should be building their nest egg.

“For too many Australians over the age of 45, if they become ­unemployed they will struggle to get another job and instead spiral down towards a pretty lean ­retirement.”

In addition to developing a positive ageing strategy, Mr ­Albanese will use a new jobs and skills Australia agency to reskill older workers in combating “age discrimination”.

He will also highlight the economic benefit of grandparents providing “free childcare”, saying that by 2057, 22 per cent of Australians will be aged 65 or over.

Mr Albanese will also launch a defence of superannuation and the retirement income system, while conceding it “needs improvement”.

“Like Medicare, universal superannuation is a great Labor legacy. Sadly, support for it is not universal. At the moment we are witnessing an unholy coalition attacking the increase in the superannuation guarantee,” he will say.

“They want to see super wound back or abolished. They say that the pension should be enough, or that it reduces wages. I absolutely reject this binary approach.

“With economic growth and productivity, you can have both higher super and higher wages. The prescriptions of ACOSS and others play into the hands of the Coalition. Labor supports the ­legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent by 2025.”

The Labor leader, who will not announce new policies in the speech, came under pressure from the Health Services Union this week to support a Medicare-style levy in response to funding shortfalls in the aged-care sector.

Mr Albanese identifies dementia as a Labor priority, including ­establishing dementia-friendly com­munities, and will flag future policies responding to record costs and waiting times facing older Australians for dental, cataract, hip and knee replacement care.

Pledging to adopt all recommendations delivered by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Mr Albanese will say governments have “turned a blind eye”.

“It is a collective failure. There has been a lack of reform and ­investment in aged care — in both homecare and residential aged care. We understand that our aged-care workers are one of the workforces of the future, that what is needed is proper pay and proper training. We need staff qualified to give proper care.”