labor have an aviation policy

You are living pretty badly if you only have the pension here. I don't know about the Australian wife. Some of them would qualify as the booby prize where you lose the lottery and keep on paying for the ticket. Of course some of the BLOKES aren't much of a prize either.. Nev

Retail super funds are run for the profit if the shareholders. Industry super funds are run for the members, with profits reinvested for the benefit of the members. All funds are required by law to provide a Product Disclosure Statement, which you can download as a pdf file from their website. You should also be able to download a Member Guide explaining the options available. I worked in the Customer Service Call Centre of an industry super fund for eight years. I am not a financial adviser, and cannot give any financial advice.

Recently the super funds were ranked according to performance. The top ones were all industry super funds - as Red says, they're not paying dividends to shareholders so they actually act in your interest rather than the "owners".

Actually, while all funds have their head offices, with investment managers, marketing people, etc, most industry funds use a centralised processing contractor to handle processing of contributions, claims, pensions, and customer service. Some funds do their own, and there used to be three major processing contractors. These functions are common and there are economies of scale for not duplicating identical functions. I worked for one of these contractors servicing a number of funds. When a call came in, the name of the fund appeared on a small screen on the phone, One call might be "Welcome to ABC Fund", the next call "Welcome to XYZ Fund". Each fund had its rules, fees, conditions etc., and I developed a computer intranet reference system so that operators could instantly click into the details of the fund they were answering for. Our company took over the smaller of the three contractors while I was there, then the other one after I retired, so there is basically only one company processing nearly all of the funds transactions. At one stage, I was taking calls for nine separate funds.

When I set up my business in Noosaville in 2005 I didn't have an Australian Super fund but I had 3 based in NZ. My accountant told me those didn't count so I immediately took one out with my Bank & chucked 20 grand in it which was my profit from year 1. The returns were mediocre & the fees ridiculous. I then set up a SMSF & transferred the bank funds into it. The documentation bureaucracy is over the top and the tax returns and financial reporting incredibly complex but after the initial setup costs there are no fees to pay except for annual reporting. Now it is converted to a pension fund & I still put money in as well as taking it out & there is no tax, but there is a catch. The tax office charge a $370.00 fee for not having to check a tax return. Pathetic.

name an issue Albanese has any influence over in the last 5 years? take your time

Last time Albo was there, flying is only for the silver tails.

KP

It's your job to communicate and don't say I haven't enough time. Work with others of like mind and provide REAL FACTS not political aims. All non commercial pilot votes don't add up to much but organisations like AOPA (whatever you think they did in the past etc ) are the only ones that will act in the interests of non rich and powerful pilots in relation to government law and the CASA's administration of them. Certainly I wouldn't expect too much from the RAAus. It has to suck to CASA to get crumbs and who knows what rights they trade for that nebulous benefit. Pilots should not fracture into different interest small groups . Divided you fall. Together you have a chance. Nev