Good news in our campaign for fairer superannuation: this morning the Treasurer announced improvements to Australia's superannuation scheme, reducing the inequitable tax concessions handed out to Australia's richest people.
Tens of thousands of GetUp members helped make that happen by paying for influential economic research; by petitioning Wayne Swan calling for a more equitable super system; by writing letters to the editor correcting misleading claims being made by media commentators; and by making our campaign video one of the most watched in Australia in the last month (watch it here). Well done.
We didn't get reforms affecting the wealthiest 10%, 5% nor the 1% we were calling for. Today's announcement will affect 0.4% of Australians. This means 16,000 of Australia's top earners will no longer have their retirements subsidised by poorer Australians*. Read below for more detail on that. It may be a small step, but it's a step in the right direction.
Today is an example of how powerful it is when GetUp members come together. Campaigns like this one are funded entirely by a corps of GetUp members who donate small weekly donations to power our campaigns. They pay to commission the independent research behind this campaign; for the costs of our website that made this possible; the high-production video for this campaign that became one of the most viewed in Australia. It doesn't take much to make a huge difference when your donation leverages the power of a huge social movement. This campaign cost approximately $32,000 in total, but it generated dozens of newspaper articles, TV reports and radio interviews, and helped tip an important outcome. Together, our small change can add up to big social change. If you'd like to join those who sustain GetUp, please make a small weekly contribution here.
http://www.getup.org.au/superforall
There's so much more to do this year. For example, just on superannuation: the Coalition has indicated they would cut the 'Low Income Superannuation Contribution'. Over 3.1 million Australians on low wages (two thirds of them women) would see their super shrink, leaving them with less money to retire. It would also put more pressure on public services like housing and health. Let's get to it.
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Thanks for being part of this,
the GetUp team.
*People whose superannuation investments pay them more than $100,000 a year in interest or dividends will be taxed 15% on that income over $100,000. The total savings to taxpayers generated by these announcements is about $900 million dollars.
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now!