Holy Hector!
Can’t a man leave the country for a fortnight without the entire financial system melting down?
I’m barely off the plane and I find out the Prime Minister’s been running the skewer up our super. My inbox is jammed with Barefooters like Brad:
“I’m sure you’ve picked up on Albo calling our super a ‘national asset’. He’s scaring the hell out of people, including me! I know you lean left and tend to defend Labor, but are you not alarmed by this? By following your steps I’ve got over $650k in my Hostplus super, yet the thought of him raiding it for his pet projects makes me sick.”
(Brad reckons I lean left. My wife reckons I’m to the right of Genghis Khan. Truth is I’ve attacked every party viciously over the years. Just not all at once.)
So I spent the morning reading what Albo actually said, rather than what journos said he said.
Here it is:
“There is a real potential to see these funds as a national asset that can be used more appropriately and get better returns as well, not just for individuals and for retirees, but for the nation.”
Ah joy mray! as they say in Cambodia (kids, please don’t translate this).
Look, I get it. Australia has a productivity problem. Our living standards have suffered one of the sharpest falls on record. Albo wants to kickstart things, and he’s eyeing off the $4.5 trillion sitting in super to help.
He’s seen what happens when governments with big money pick winners. Just look at China. Back in 2001 they decided EVs were the future. They bankrolled the whole lot. Today they make nearly 75% of the world’s electric cars. The best of them charge in five minutes, drive themselves while simultaneously massaging your butt, and leave you with change from $50,000.
Now, I reckon Albo and the comrades would love to run Australia like Communist China. (Big plan, big cheque, no pesky questions).
There’s just a few problems with this idea:
Neither side can dig a bloody hole. I don’t mean that as a metaphor. Remember Snowy Hydro 2.0? The Liberals sold it to us at $2 billion. Labor’s now spent ten times that, years late, and they still haven’t finished digging the hole.
Look, after twenty-odd years watching ‘can’t miss’ ideas turn to dust, I don’t trust governments with our money. Come to think of it, I don’t trust the industry super funds either, who jet round the globe buying airports and toll roads and glass towers nobody can put an honest price on. (Yes, Brad. That includes Hostplus.)
Super funds have a legal obligation to act in the best financial interests of their members, so I find it hard to believe that they’ll play ball. That said, politicians can be very generous when it comes to spending our money.
For me?
That’s why I’m happy to be boring. My super is invested in a slice of the biggest companies in the world through a low-cost index funds. No private jets. No mystery airports. No grand government plans. Just my money, priced every single day on the share market where I can see it.
It’s our bloody money, Albo. Keep your hands off it.
Tread Your Own Path!
P.S.
We raised tens of thousands of dollars for baby-in-the-bag Sok and Sunrise orphanage in Cambodia.
To those of you who answered the call, thank you.