There will be ups and downs in the market, but history shows that the long-run trend is always up. Since compulsory superannuation was introduced 20 years ago, the return for a balanced fund has been around 7 per cent each year. The simple message for individuals and the Government is that superannuation works. It is not the superannuation system that is a problem – in fact our system is the envy of the world. It is the economic environment in which we are investing that is impacting on member balances. For individuals it will mean you have more savings on which to retire. For the Government, superannuation has proved to be a boon for the economy and the Budget, and Parliament should bite the bullet and support increasing compulsory superannuation. Paul Keating has said his only regret regarding superannuation is that he didn’t go hard enough and legislate for a 15 per cent superannuation guarantee and deny the Howard Government the opportunity to unwind this policy decision. It would be a tragedy for Australia if this was the case again and the Government did not legislate for the increase from 9 to 12 per cent.