One of the highlights of the 2002 Winter Olympics for Australia was the final in the 1000 metre speed skate. In the last leg of the race the favourites slipped or became tangled with other competitors causing thrills and spills leaving Australian skater, Steven Bradbury, last man standing. He sailed through the finishing line first with his arms lifted high above his head.
Stephen won gold for Australia, winning the country’s first Winter Olympics gold medal, although later, Alisa Camplin also won gold at the same Olympics, by winning the aerials event .
If the ALP and the Liberals don’t stop their silly bickering over trivial issues, they may find that the Greens win more than the balance of power in the Senate. Clearly they won’t win Government but they may receive enough of the protest vote to earn the balance of power in the Lower House as well.
Now that would be a golden Bradbury opportunity for the Greens!
What superannuation policy?
In terms of superannuation and retirement, the Greens have always been light on policy, although they were instrumental in pushing for the removal of discrimination in superannuation entitlements for same-sex couples.
The party has made only a handful of public comments on super and retirement in this election campaign including:
- Parental leave should include superannuation payments. The Greens are proposing that unpaid parental leave should be 6 months, in line with World Health Organisation guidelines. The Greens Paid Parental Leave policy would provide 26 weeks’ leave, paid for by the Federal Government, with payments made at the minimum wage, plus Superannuation Guarantee payments. See the Greens website.
- SMSFs can invest in collectibles. The Greens support SMSFs investing in art and other collectibles (see SMSFs: Collectibles remain OK investments, say all parties).
- Support for a resource tax, with tax revenue paid to a sovereign fund to invest in Australia’s future . The ALP’s resource tax is designed so that one-third of the tax revenue is used to fund the increase in Superannuation Guarantee from 9% ot 12% see article: THE SOAPBOX: Mining Resource Rent Tax: Let’s get on with it
