Take Control of Your Own Superannuation Fund
The reader feedback from Part 1 has been overwhelming and several selected comments have been added to the ‘reader comments’ section.
It has become obvious that our ‘law,’ just like our ‘politics’, has work to do on itself, to earn our respect.
Australia has become the Country of the ‘Kangaroo Court’ (I have no idea why Australia has decided to specialize in such courts). Many examples have been forwarded of the various ‘kangaroo courts’, such as the Onion Board, Egg Board, Potato Board, Motor Vehicle Licensing Board, the Fair Work / Unfair Dismissals Act and so it goes on.
Several of these boards have been dismissed and it was indicated that immediately before the Potato Board was abolished, the contracts for all the board members were renewed so we had a situation where they were being paid for some years for their non-appearance before non-board meetings.
So, now onto Part II.
Take control of your own superannuation fund.
Let me take you back to my ‘win’ in 1988, shortly after the compulsory superannuation scheme was introduced.
Details of that superannuation scheme here:
At that time I was Chairman of Croesus Mining NL, a public company, when we received a request from the Australian Workers Union ‘that we direct our employees funds to their Labor Union controlled super fund and, if we did not, it would ‘leave us with no other alternative than to take an action of a kind that you will not misunderstand.’ It had become obvious to us that there was a Labor Union ‘grab’ to take control of this new ‘river of gold’ superannuation money from Australians, union members or not!
It was obvious, even to Blind Freddie, that with such investment funds at their disposal the unions would have voting power to Australia’s corporate world and bid board members to take instructions, with severe penalties to them at ensuing Annual General Meetings.
Croesus Mining had a strong analytical team to evaluate mining projects, so we let them loose on evaluating the various Superannuation Funds available at that time.
It was clearly shown that the Labor-controlled superannuation fund had the worst track record of any of the current offerings, so we made our selection accordingly.
Shortly thereafter, our company’s secretary and I were summoned to appear before the W.A. Industrial Relations Commission where we explained, in detail, why we refused to act against the interests of our employees by following the union request.
Full particulars of our successful outcome of proceedings and subsequent media releases are here.
We now have the benefit of 37 years of financial proof that the decision we made, on behalf of our employees, was correct in all respects.
So, what can we learn from standing up straight and developing a Backbone to withstand such Union muscle?
- When put to the test, a good compelling case will win, even in Australia’s Kangaroo Courts.
- History has also shown that the Labor Unions, through stealth, have manipulated themselves into a Command Position over Australia’s corporate world. Anyone attending an Annual General Meeting of major companies will see the sickening behaviour of the Union’s Proxy Advisers, when they influence boards, particularly when it comes time to vote on Directors’ Remuneration.
- There is now a strong Australian movement of concerned individuals, with a heightened sense of unease at the current status. A movement, called Backbone Australia, has been created to ‘incentivize heroism’ from companies and individuals who are sick of ‘having their heads kicked in’ any time they question the status quo.
- There is no mystery why our International Productivity Rating is in free fall.
Anyone interested in further details – please email mannwest@mannkal.org with “Backbone Australia” in the subject line.
Thank you for reading.
Regards,
Ron Manners AO
Other labor union readings from that era here:
