Editing Paul Keating (section)

===Superannuation and economic policy===
[[File:Second Keating Cabinet 1994.jpg|thumb|Keating and his Cabinet, 1994]]

Among Keating's most far-reaching achievements as prime minister was the full introduction of the [[Superannuation in Australia|National Superannuation Scheme]], implemented to address Australia's long-term problem of chronically low national savings. This initiative built on policies that Keating had pursued whilst treasurer, and was aimed at ensuring that most Australians would have enough money to retire. In 1992, the compulsory employer contribution scheme became a part of a wider reform package addressing this retirement income dilemma. It had been demonstrated that Australia, along with many other Western nations, would experience a major [[population ageing|demographic shift]] in the coming decades, due to ageing population, and it was claimed that this would result in increased pension payments that would place an unaffordable strain on the [[Economy of Australia|Australian economy]].

Keating's solution was a "three pillars" approach to retirement income, requiring compulsory employer contributions to superannuation funds, permitting further contributions to superannuation funds and other investments, and introducing, where this was insufficient, a safety net consisting of a means-tested government-funded age pension.<ref>{{citation|chapter-url=http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/StrategicPaper.aspx?doc=html/Publications/Papers/Retirement_Income_Strategic_Issues_Paper/Chapter_2.htm|title=Retirement Income Strategic Issues Paper|publisher=Australian Government|chapter=Chapter 2: Australia's three-pillar system|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228145533/http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/StrategicPaper.aspx?doc=html%2FPublications%2FPapers%2FRetirement_Income_Strategic_Issues_Paper%2FChapter_2.htm|archive-date=28 February 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The compulsory employer contributions were branded "Superannuation Guarantee" (SG) contributions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://theconversation.com/compulsory-super-its-good-it-works-and-we-want-more-of-it-5975|title=Compulsory super: it's good, it works and we want more of it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913190822/http://theconversation.com/compulsory-super-its-good-it-works-and-we-want-more-of-it-5975|archive-date=13 September 2015|date=28 March 2012|first=Trevor|last=Cook|publisher=The Conversation}}</ref> As a result of this policy, along with the gradual increases in the minimum contribution amount, Australia grew to become the fourth largest holder of pension fund assets in the world, with a balance of AU$3.3 trillion in superannuation assets at the end of the June 2022 quarter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.superannuation.asn.au/resources/superannuation-statistics|title=Superannuation Statistics|publisher=The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia|access-date=23 September 2020|archive-date=28 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928230519/https://www.superannuation.asn.au/resources/superannuation-statistics|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the 1990 recession, Keating appointed his close ally [[John Dawkins]] as treasurer, and together the two developed an economic package to counter the Liberal-National Coalition's '[[Fightback! (policy)|Fightback!]]' proposals; this package came to be known as 'One Nation', and involved using funding from the budget surplus to produce new welfare-to-work programmes, as well as introducing a new degree of competition within the telecommunications and communications industries and creating the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA).<ref name="Murphy-2016">{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cabinet-papers-199293-released-paul-keatings-one-nation-and-the-economy-20161216-gtd3mg.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |title=Cabinet papers 1992-93: Paul Keating's One Nation and the economy |first=Damien |last=Murphy |date=20 December 2016 |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001231655/https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cabinet-papers-199293-released-paul-keatings-one-nation-and-the-economy-20161216-gtd3mg.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 'One Nation' also proposed a series of further tax cuts for middle-income workers coming in two tranches, in 1993 and 1995, although these would later be deferred to 1995 and 1998, a move which cost the Government considerable political support among the public.<ref name="Murphy-2016"/> A further major economic policy development was the introduction of an [[enterprise bargaining]] scheme as part of the final stage of the [[Prices and Incomes Accord]], intended to allow for greater flexibility and economies of scale within industrial wage arbitration, although much of this was curtailed by the Howard government after 1996.<ref name="Murphy-2016"/>