❓ Hon Giz Watson questions the Treasurer on the status of public sector superannuation reforms, including choice of fund, GESB privatisation, and related financial and administrative matters. The Treasurer provides answers regarding conflict of interest management and executive salary increases.
AnsweredQoN 731Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Referring to the Treasurer’s media statement of 9 February 2009, ‘Public sector superannuation reforms confirmed, but no firm timetable’, I ask -
(1) Can the Treasurer provide details on the current status of the introduction of choice of fund and the privatisation of GESB?
(2) What is the tax status of West State Super?
(3) What advice by the Solicitor General’s Office was received on its post reform tax status?
(4) What is the market impact on GESB's reserves?
(5) What are the key administrative matters to be resolved before the completion of the reform?
(6) Will the choice of fund be introduced if these GESB matters cannot be resolved?
(7) Regarding the GESB's reserves, I ask -
(a) from which superannuation scheme did these reserves originate;
(b) which of these reserves will given to the private mutual;
(c) which reserves will stay with the State Superannuation Board;
(d) if any reserves are transferred, will the private company be required to provide any payment to the Government fund;
(e) is the Government aware of concerns raised by the public sector unions and members of the defined benefit schemes regarding the use and possible transfer of these reserves to the private mutual; and
(f) if yes to (e), how is the Government addressing these concerns?
(8) What is the source and amount of funds to be transferred to the mutual companies for managing West State Super and GESB Super?
(9) Will this amount be consistent with the amount of reserves held by industry funds of the same size of GESB?
(10) Has the Government commissioned any studies to compare the private mutual with industry funds?
(11) If yes to (10), will the Treasurer make the study publicly available?
(12) Which of the current GESB Board members are also Board members of any of the companies within the mutual?
(13) What fees have they been paid to the board members in this financial year to date from each of the boards?
(14) Is there a conflict of interest given that the State Superannuation Board will outsource the management of the defined benefit schemes and the public sector fund to the private sector mutual?
(15) What strategies does the Government use to address any potential conflicts of interest?
(16) What has been the percentage increase of the GESB Chief Executive Officer and senior executive salaries over each of the previous three years?
(1) Can the Treasurer provide details on the current status of the introduction of choice of fund and the privatisation of GESB?
(2) What is the tax status of West State Super?
(3) What advice by the Solicitor General’s Office was received on its post reform tax status?
(4) What is the market impact on GESB's reserves?
(5) What are the key administrative matters to be resolved before the completion of the reform?
(6) Will the choice of fund be introduced if these GESB matters cannot be resolved?
(7) Regarding the GESB's reserves, I ask -
(a) from which superannuation scheme did these reserves originate;
(b) which of these reserves will given to the private mutual;
(c) which reserves will stay with the State Superannuation Board;
(d) if any reserves are transferred, will the private company be required to provide any payment to the Government fund;
(e) is the Government aware of concerns raised by the public sector unions and members of the defined benefit schemes regarding the use and possible transfer of these reserves to the private mutual; and
(f) if yes to (e), how is the Government addressing these concerns?
(8) What is the source and amount of funds to be transferred to the mutual companies for managing West State Super and GESB Super?
(9) Will this amount be consistent with the amount of reserves held by industry funds of the same size of GESB?
(10) Has the Government commissioned any studies to compare the private mutual with industry funds?
(11) If yes to (10), will the Treasurer make the study publicly available?
(12) Which of the current GESB Board members are also Board members of any of the companies within the mutual?
(13) What fees have they been paid to the board members in this financial year to date from each of the boards?
(14) Is there a conflict of interest given that the State Superannuation Board will outsource the management of the defined benefit schemes and the public sector fund to the private sector mutual?
(15) What strategies does the Government use to address any potential conflicts of interest?
(16) What has been the percentage increase of the GESB Chief Executive Officer and senior executive salaries over each of the previous three years?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
3 June 2009
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Treasurer
Response time
27 days
(14) Outsourcing of superannuation scheme administration and investment management is common in the superannuation industry. The independence of the State Superannuation Board from its service provider (GESB Mutual Ltd) will allow the Board to properly focus on its role to manage the defined benefit schemes and defined benefit fund on behalf of its members and the State. The service agreements that give effect to the outsourcing arrangements will be contestable within five years following mutualisation of GESB. (15) The Government has in place a number of measures to address potential conflicts of interests between the Boards: · a Common Directors Policy to address potential conflicts of interest will take effect at transfer time. The policy limits the cross directorships between the State Superannuation Board and the Boards within the Mutual company following mutualisation of GESB. · The State Superannuation Board will be a Statutory Authority with its Secretariat, administration and policy support provided independently by the Department of Treasury and Finance. Staff and appropriate administrative structures are already in place for this purpose. · During a transition period the Treasurer will be a special member of GESB Mutual Ltd with veto powers over director appointments to the GESB Mutual board. · The Treasurer will continue to be responsible for nominating employer director appointments to the State Superannuation Board, as is the case with GESB today. · Each board will operate a Conflict of Interest policy in accordance with best practice corporate governance. (16) In the previous three years GESB's CEO and Senior Executive Salaries have increased by: 2005/6: 8.50% 2006/7: 11.43% and 2007/8: 11.53% Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.