First Australian Abrams tanks reach Ukraine after 9-month wait
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Former top RBA official says it risks falling into persistent policy error on interest rates
Former RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis is now Westpac’s chief economist. She says the decision — by a six-to-three majority of the Monetary Policy Board — was surprising. The Australian dollar jumped as the RBA surprised the market by keeping rates on hold. Dr Ellis argued the R BA was focused almost exclusively on the quarterly inflation data. She still switched her forecast to a July interest rate cut after weak monthly inflation figures were released by the ABS a fortnight ago. The next ABS Labour Force data will be published on July 17, while the June quarter CPI data willbe released on July 30. The RBA said it would “be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of risks to guide its decisions” Dr Ellis found that explanation unconvincing. “Why on earth wait?” she wrote in a LinkedIn post late on Tuesday. “It shouldn’t, in some sense, come down to one number, but each quarter it has. … It’s a shame that that’s the way to make monetary policy decisions”
Former RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis, who is now Westpac’s chief economist, says the decision — by a six-to-three majority of the Monetary Policy Board — was surprising.
Westpac and its customers rely on her interpretation of what the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Board will do with interest rates from meeting to meeting.
And, although she suspected the Reserve Bank might wait until August to cut interest rates again, she still switched her forecast to a July interest rate cut after weak monthly inflation figures were released by the ABS a fortnight ago.
“One of the reasons I [originally forecast the next interest rate cut in August] was a sense that … they would wait, thinking that they wouldn’t use the full information set available to them now,” she explained.
The Australian dollar jumped as the RBA surprised the market by keeping rates on hold. (ABC News: Kylie Silvester)
In other words, Dr Ellis assumed the Monetary Policy Board would wait for the more comprehensive June quarter inflation data before cutting interest rates.
“It felt a little bit uncharitable [to forecast that],” she said.
” I was almost wanting to think the best of [the RBA] and, in the end, three board members did agree that you didn’t need to wait for the extra one-third of the CPI [Consumer Price Index data]. ”
However, the majority of six opted for a cautious approach, waiting for that more detailed data to confirm that inflation was falling in line with the Reserve Bank’s forecasts, which have it hitting 2.6 per cent — close to the mid-point of the 2 to 3 per cent target.
‘Unconfident’ and ‘clunky’
In a LinkedIn post late on Tuesday, Dr Ellis expressed some frustration over the RBA’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged.
“Why on earth wait?” she wrote.
Trade wars, strongmen, and economic chaos. This is a critical moment for Australia Photo shows Road to Rail 2015-11-29 11:11:00 Trade wars, strongmen, and economic chaos. The world has seen this before.
In the post-meeting statement, the RBA explained that “the board judged that it could wait for a little more information to confirm that inflation remains on track to reach 2.5 per cent on a sustainable basis”.
However, Dr Ellis found that explanation unconvincing.
“I think it was quite an unconfident call by the RBA not to move this time,” Dr Ellis said.
“Unless they really think they might not move in August, it wasn’t clear why [the RBA] didn’t already have enough information to make that decision.”
The Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Board said it would “be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of risks to guide its decisions”.
“In doing so,” the board said, “it will pay close attention to developments in the global economy and financial markets, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market.”
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The next ABS Labour Force data will be published on July 17, while the June quarter CPI data will be released on July 30.
But Dr Ellis argued the RBA was focused almost exclusively on the quarterly inflation data.
“This has been the rounds that we’ve been on for the last 18 months,” she lamented.
“It shouldn’t, in some sense, come down to one number, but each quarter it has.
“I mean the number of times that our [interest] rate calls have hinged on [the question], ‘Was there a surprise [in that CPI data]?’ — it’s kind of a clunky way to have to make your [interest] rate forecasts.
“But on the other hand, they’re at the point where they’re trying to work out if inflation really is comfortably inside the 2 to 3 per cent target range, whether it’s going stay there, whether it’s going to get to that 2.5 per cent [inflation] rate.”
Luci Ellis says quarterly CPI figures aren’t a full picture of the broader economy. (ABC News: Sharon Gordon)
Dr Ellis believed that was not the best way to make monetary policy decisions.
“It’s going to keep coming down to the quarterly CPI, and it will mean that people focus so much on that number instead of on the broader assessment of the economy,” she cautioned.
“And that’s a shame.”
Differing opinions
Investment firm Deutsche Bank similarly took aim at what it perceived as contradictory language in the RBA’s communications.
“The [RBA’s] post-meeting statement notes that: ‘While recent monthly CPI Indicator data suggest that June quarter inflation is likely to be broadly in line with the forecast, they were, at the margin, slightly stronger than expected,'” chief economist Phil O’Donaghoe noted.
“We struggle to interpret what the RBA means with this phrase.
” The data are either ‘broadly in line’ or ‘slightly stronger than expected’. They cannot be both. ”
David Bassanese says the RBA’s language is contradictory. (ABC News: Mark Moore)
There were a few economists, however, who anticipated the central bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
Betashares chief economist David Bassanese was one of them.
“As I have consistently argued in recent weeks, the case to cut rates today was never compelling,” he noted.
“While consumer spending remains stubbornly weak, the labour market remains strong.
“And while the recent monthly CPI report showed a large decline in annual trimmed mean inflation to 2.4 per cent, monthly reports are notoriously volatile.
“Only the month prior, trimmed mean annual inflation was at 2.8 per cent.”
Trump flags tariffs of 200pc on pharmaceuticals, 50pc on copper Photo shows Donald Trump speaks and holds his hands open while Pete Hegseth, seated next to him, watches. Donald Trump flags a possible 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals — one of Australia’s biggest exports to the US — and says copper could be hit with a 50 per cent levy.
Underlying inflation at 2.8 per cent indicates price growth more broadly in the economy could easily move outside the RBA’s 2 to 3 per cent comfort zone.
“To my mind,” Mr Bassanese added, “the RBA [will] wait for the more reliable quarterly CPI report later this month to confirm a decline in underlying inflation before cutting rates again in August.”
Dr Ellis, however, argued this approach could push the RBA into chronic policy error.
“I think where there is a risk partly around the idea that maybe the RBA is seeking so much certainty in the data that they end up continuously behind the curve more generally,” she warned.
“So if it forms into a pattern of behaviour where the RBA doesn’t have the courage of its analysis, isn’t willing to make a forecast that is anything other than locked in based on backward-looking data, that would be a problem.
“But it’s not what we’re seeing yet.”
Editor’s note July 10, 2025: The article originally stated that Luci Ellis had described the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave the cash rate on hold in July as “uncharitable”. This was incorrect. She said that it was “surprising”.
Diogo Jota was likely speeding before fatal crash, Spanish police say
Spanish police say Diogo Jota was likely driving over the speed limit when he and his brother died in a car crash in the country’s north-west. Police had previously not said if Jota or his 26-year-old brother, André Silva, were driving. The brothers’ funeral was held in Portugal on Saturday, where players from Liverpool and the Portuguese national team joined members of Jota’s family with red floral arrangements in the shape of a soccer shirt adorned with his club number. Jota scored 47 goals in 123 matches for Liverpool, where he played for the past five seasons. He also made 49 appearances for Portugal’s national team and played for Al Hilal at the Club World Cup in the U.S. last month. The tragedy came just two weeks after Jota married his partner of 10 years, Rute Rute Cardoso, in a ceremony in Porto, the city where he started playing soccer at age nine. Liverpool fans have been united in their outpouring of grief and displays in tribute to Jota outside Anfield.
Spain’s Civil Guard said on Tuesday local time that while their investigation into the cause of the crash last Thursday was continuing, they believed Jota was driving too fast when his Lamborghini veered off course after a tyre burst.
The civil guard said in a statement that its forensics team was analysing marks left by one of the car’s wheels on the asphalt that pointed to the tyre bursting and whether that and excessive speed caused the crash.
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The police had previously not said if Jota or his 26-year-old brother, André Silva, were driving. On Tuesday they said that it appeared Jota was.
The civil guard had also previously suggested that the pair’s car appeared to have been overtaking another vehicle at the time of the crash.
Footballers join family in mourning Diogo Jota at funeral Photo shows Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson carry wreaths of red flowers in the shape of football shirts The last time many of his friends in football made the trip to Porto was two weeks prior, for Jota’s wedding.
Having concluded their investigation, police will send a report to the local court before it is made public.
The siblings died in the car when it burst into flames on an isolated section of highway early in the morning.
Portuguese media reported Jota was heading to the northern Spanish city of Santander to take a ferry to England, where he would rejoin his Premier League club after being advised not to fly following a recent lung procedure.
The crumpled, burnt-out wreck of the Lamborghini was removed from the site early on Thursday, but debris remained on the side of the road.
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Jota’s death at the age of 28 sent shock waves through the world of soccer and beyond, with messages of condolences pouring in from national leaders as well as fellow football players.
The Portuguese striker was renowned globally for his exploits on the pitch.
He scored 47 goals in 123 matches for Liverpool, where he played for the past five seasons. He also made 49 appearances for Portugal’s national team.
The loss was felt sharply in his home town, especially at his first soccer club, where Jota started playing at age nine.
Liverpool Football Club fans have been united in their outpouring of grief and displays in tribute to Diogo Jota outside Anfield. (Reuters: Phil Noble)
“He never forgot his roots, nor his friends, because he had a group of friends who were with him in the training here in Gondomar and who he even invited from time to time to go and watch Liverpool games in England,” Gondomar SC director Anselmo Serra told The Associated Press.
” They were like a group of friends that he never forgot over the years. ”
The brothers’ funeral was held in Portugal on Saturday, where players from Liverpool and the Portuguese national team joined members of Jota’s family with red floral arrangements in the shape of a soccer shirt adorned with his club number, 20.
Portugal international Rúben Neves served as a pallbearer for Jota a day after playing for Al Hilal at the Club World Cup in the United States.
Jota’s legacy will live forever Photo shows Diogo Jota looks to the heavens and smiles Diogo Jota wasn’t Liverpool’s best player or the most famous. But he will be immortalised in a song that is proof of how deeply he wove himself into the fabric of the city.
“More than a friendship, we’re family, and we’re not going to stop being family just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us,” he said.
“I’ll make sure you’re always there and I’ll make sure your family never lacks anything while you’re there, far away but thinking of us, waiting for us.”
The private service was presided over by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda.
In an emotional homily addressed to Jota’s parents, his wife and their three children, the bishop said “solidarity in love is always stronger than death”.
The church was filled to capacity and a couple of dozen people followed the service via loudspeaker from outside.
The fatal incident also came just two weeks after Jota married his partner of 10 years and mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso.
In the days that followed his death, Liverpool fans flocked to the club’s home ground, Anfield, in a mass display of grief and tribute to Jota.
Wires
US officials question use of Australia’s retired tanks as vehicles go to Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he confirmed the fleet of second-hand M1A1 vehicles was on the way. The ABC has confirmed that the process of loading the first of the 49 vehicles onto a cargo ship began recently. Australia had to wait for Washington’s approval to export the US-made tanks to a third country, which was granted despite American officials remaining privately frustrated about the donation. Last month an Australian Defence official said there were some concerns that sending the large tanks to Ukraine was not the best way to provide military assistance.
During an overnight meeting in Rome, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he confirmed the fleet of second-hand M1A1 vehicles was on the way.
The ABC has confirmed that the process of loading the first of the 49 vehicles onto a cargo ship began recently, but the government will not discuss their current location or expected arrival date in Europe for “security reasons”.
Before the shipping process could begin, Australia had to wait for Washington’s approval to export the US-made tanks to a third country, which was granted despite American officials remaining privately frustrated about the donation.
“Last year, even before Donald Trump returned as president, we warned the Australians that sending these Abrams tanks would be complicated, and once they finally get to the battlefield the Ukrainians will find them difficult to sustain,” one US official told the ABC, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Last month an Australian Defence official said there were some concerns that sending the large tanks to Ukraine was not the best way to provide military assistance to the war-torn country.
“We are starting to doubt if the Ukrainians actually want these vehicles. The tank roof is the weakest point of the Abrams and this is a drone war,” the official said.
Ukraine to receive aging Abrams tanks Photo shows M1A1 Abrams tank The announcement was welcomed by Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko.
Defence Minister Richard Marles on Monday declined to say whether US officials have expressed any concerns about the donation.
“We’ve been working very closely with Ukraine, very closely with the United States, to see this shipment occur and to see the tanks be on their way,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“The first tranche has been on their way now for some time but I’m not going to go into the specific details of that.”
Earlier this year, operations at a key logistics hub in Poland that will eventually receive the Australian Abrams tanks were stalled after Mr Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine. But the facility has now returned to normal business.
In April, a Defence Department spokesperson told the ABC: “Australia remains on target to meet the delivery of the M1A1 Abrams in 2025, the M1A1 export process remains ongoing.”
“Defence continues to work with the Ukrainian government in line with agreed arrangements for the gifting, including on delivery and sustainment,” the spokesperson added.
In 2024, the Albanese government also faced widespread criticism for not agreeing to a Ukrainian request to donate the Australian retired fleet of advanced Taipan helicopters, which Defence insisted would be too complicated for Ukraine to operate and maintain.
US allows Australia to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine despite private objections, media reports
Australian authorities have begun loading the first of the 49 decommissioned Ukraine-bound Abrams tanks onto a cargo ship. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the upcoming delivery of the tanks when meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on May 18. The exact date of their arrival is withheld for security reasons. Australia pledged to send Kyiv the 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks as part of a broader military aid package in October 2024.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the upcoming delivery of the tanks when meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on May 18. The exact date of their arrival is withheld for security reasons, ABC reported.
The Australian broadcaster reported back in April that the shipments of the retired tanks, which are meant to bolster Ukrainian forces as they resist Russian aggression, are delayed in part due to resistance from Washington.
These objections have not fully subsided, with at least one U.S. official questioning their usefulness on the Ukrainian battlefields, according to ABC. An undisclosed Australian defense official told the broadcaster that Canberra is uncertain whether Kyiv is even interested in the vehicles, as their weak roof makes them vulnerable to drones.
U.S. officials have also reportedly pointed to difficulties with their maintenance in the demanding conditions of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Despite the private protests, Washington eventually gave permission for Australia to begin shipping out the U.S.-made tanks to Ukraine, ABC reported.
Australia pledged to send Kyiv the 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks as part of a broader military aid package in October 2024. Ukraine previously received 31 Abrams tanks from the Biden administration in late 2023, though it is unclear how many are still operational as of 2025.
Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden, U.S. President Donald Trump has been reluctant to allocate additional military aid to Kyiv, aiming instead to broker a peace deal with Russia.
The effectiveness of Abrams tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine has been previously called into question by Western officials. The Associated Press (AP) reported in April 2024 that Ukrainian forces were pulling the tanks from the front lines due to the high risk of detection by Russian drones. The Ukrainian military denied the claim.
One in four Australians in the dark about their superannuation insurance cover, survey finds
Lyndal Jordon was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and doesn’t know how long she has left to live. She says her superannuation fund, Aware Super, and its insurer, TAL Insurance, have exacerbated the financial and emotional stress. Ms Jordon made a formal complaint with her super fund about her insurance cover being at a lower “default” level, rather than more expensive coverage that would have resulted in a higher payout. Aware Super has apologised for the difficulty she has faced in the processing of her claim, but argues she was paid correctly under the default level of insurance cover she had been paying for. Do you know more? If you have more information about this story please contact Nassim Khadem at khadem.nassim@abc.net.au or nassimkhadem@protonmail.com. New research by Super Consumers Australia, shared exclusively with ABC News, shows that one in four don’t know what insurance they have in super. Just 18 days before Russell Wayne Hirst died of a cardiac event, Cbus cancelled his insurance policy, leaving the beneficiary of his account in a year-long fight to have his claim approved.
But in 2022, she was diagnosed with gastric cancer.
She doesn’t know how long she has left to live and says her superannuation fund, Aware Super, and its insurer, TAL Insurance, have exacerbated the financial and emotional stress.
“Your life changes completely when you receive a terminal illness diagnosis,” Ms Jordon tells ABC News.
“You believe in the systems and processes that you’ve set up, and then you get this slap in the face.”
After getting lower income protection and terminal illness payments than she thought she was entitled to, Ms Jordon made a formal complaint with her super fund about her insurance cover being at a lower “default” level, rather than more expensive coverage that would have resulted in a higher payout.
“I was in the thick of [cancer] treatment when I received the investigator’s response to my complaint,” she said.
“Sickness takes over capacity — capacity to even live a normal life, let alone fight a David and Goliath fight.
“I don’t know, but to me, it felt like it was almost like, ‘if we make it hard enough, they won’t try, they won’t push’. And physically at the time [of cancer treatment], I couldn’t.”
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Despite Australians paying $6.8 billion for insurance within their superannuation funds in 2023-24, new research by Super Consumers Australia, shared exclusively with ABC News, shows that one in four don’t know what insurance they have in super.
Ms Jordon says she contributed to her super fund for more than 11 years, but feels she’s been left in the dark and treated poorly.
She says the insurance payouts are well below the amount needed to replace her former income, forcing her to drain her savings to get by.
“Whilst I have savings, and I have some means, it’s been really difficult, very difficult.”
Do you know more? If you have more information about this story please contact Nassim Khadem at khadem.nassim@abc.net.au or nassimkhadem@protonmail.com
Aware Super, which has $180 billion in funds under management, has apologised for the difficulty Ms Jordon has faced in the processing of her claim, but argues she was paid correctly under the default level of insurance cover she had been paying for.
“We offer our heartfelt apology to Ms Jordon for the difficulty she has had in finalising her insurance claims,” an Aware Super spokeswoman said.
“We understand how challenging it can be to work through financial matters at such a stressful time.
“We acknowledge that when people are suffering a serious illness, any wait to finalise a claim can be distressing.
“We are focused on paying insurance claims quickly and keeping members informed throughout the claim’s progress.”
Lyndal Jordon and husband Glenn Allan in happier times. (Supplied)
‘Default’ insurance leaves member without adequate coverage
Like many others, Ms Jordon was not closely checking the premiums contained in her annual statement, which she says are confusing to understand anyway.
She says she first applied for a lump sum payment and income protection with Aware Super in May 2023, but she did not start receiving income protection payments until about six months later.
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Aware Super says Ms Jordon was paid out her super balance within six business days of making her claim, while her lump sum payout was made within a few months.
Aware Super spokeswoman says to make sure the policy requirements are met, insurers used by super funds need to obtain relevant documentation, such as medical information from treating physicians and payment details, which can take some time.
Cbus cancels customer’s insurance days before his death Photo shows Gail Ferrari-Hirst and Russell Hirst embrace while standing Just 18 days before Russell Wayne Hirst died of a cardiac event in November 2021, superannuation giant Cbus cancelled his insurance policy, leaving the beneficiary of his account in a year-long fight to have her claim approved.
However, Ms Jordon’s biggest concern was the size of her insurance payouts.
She says when she received a $55,000 lump sum payment and $1,000 monthly income protection payment, she realised the payouts were “extraordinarily short of where I had presumed it would be”.
She had thought she was protected by a policy offering up to $5,000 a month in income protection insurance — “which still would have been a portion of what my monthly income was when I was working” — and a lump sum payment running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“[I was] absolutely blindsided, and when I explained that I wasn’t aware [the insurance was set to default], they said, ‘it’s up to you to request to step up in your insurance policy if you’re not happy to stay on a default payment,'” Ms Jordon said.
Ms Jordon also says she was not clearly advised by Aware Super that she was on a limited “default” level of coverage.
She says she did not notice that she was not paying higher insurance premiums because “it’s absorbed into the information around your superannuation policy”.
“Our member’s level of insurance cover did not change from the time the policy was taken out,” Aware Super said.
Lyndal Jordon claims she never received paperwork from Aware Super advising her she was being moved into a default level of coverage after the merger. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
“We encourage our members in multiple ways to check their level of cover is right for their circumstances, including in their annual statement, and when they log into our member portal or app.
” There is always room to do better in how we handle insurance claims, and we are focused on continuously improving our service. ”
Australians pay for super insurance they don’t know about or don’t understand
Ms Jordon is not alone in being confused about the level of insurance coverage contained in her superannuation fund.
Super Consumers Australia’s Pulse survey is based on the responses of 1,526 respondents aged between 18 and 75 years old, gathered last May.
It found that default insurance cover in super has left many Australians paying for insurance they don’t know about or don’t understand.
More than a quarter of people are either unsure if they have insurance (19 per cent) or don’t know what their policies are (9 per cent), the survey found.
Over half of 25- to 29-year-olds don’t know that default insurance normally starts at age 25, even though they have recently passed this age threshold.
Super Consumers’ Australia survey asked the question: “If you are over 25 years old, super funds will normally automatically enrol you to their default insurance.” Most said they did not know. (Supplied)
Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O’Halloran is calling for a Productivity Commission review of insurance in super, to ensure it is living up to the needs of Australians.
“It’s often only at claim time that people realise that they don’t have a policy that protects them,” he says.
“That can obviously lead to delays where there’s a mismatch between what people think they’ve been paying for — for years and years — and what they end up getting.”
Super Consumers Australia CEO Xavier O’Halloran is calling for a review of insurance in superannuation. (ABC News: Daniel Irvine)
He says the problem is particularly acute “when there’s been mergers and people’s benefits have changed or, in some cases, insurers and super funds have started charging people for insurance that they’ve opted out of previously”.
“And so they end up racking up big bills without realising,” he said.
” The super funds have actually been quite lax at keeping all the information and data on people together when they’re merging, and that’s obviously leading to some really tragic outcomes for people. ”
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Corporate watchdog ASIC puts super funds on notice
Corporate watchdog ASIC has put super funds on notice, after launching legal action against industry giants including Australian Super and Cbus, for their handling of death and disability claims.
Australian Super member says delays in his insurance claim almost left him homeless Photo shows a man sitting with paperwork looking unimpressed As ASIC puts super funds on notice, an Australian Super member has hit out at the fund for delays in processing an insurance claim for disability related payments.
Australian Super has been accused of failing to process thousands of death benefit claims “efficiently, honestly and fairly” between July 2019 and October 2024.
And Cbus is being sued for delays in processing more than 10,000 death and disability payments.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has asked superannuation funds to lift their game when it comes to customer service, and there have also been separate calls from a Coalition-headed Senate inquiry for an overhaul of Australia’s $4 trillion super industry amid “conflicts of interest”.
Mr O’Halloran says ASIC’s court action and an increase in consumer complaints to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) show how widespread the problem is.
“They’ve all had issues dealing with really long claims handling processes, and it’s why the government has actually stepped in and said, ‘we need a customer service standard to deal with this problem’,” Mr O’Halloran said.
” Super funds are taking far too long to look after people at sometimes the most vulnerable points in their lives. ”
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Mr O’Halloran also wants to see the government enshrine in law what communications practices and time-frames for responses to claims are required from superannuation funds.
“At the moment, there is next to no obligations — outside of some very high-level principles — to protect consumers.
“What we want to see in these customer service standards are actual timeframes, so that the super funds have to deal with these problems in a prompt way, and that accounts for the kind of stress that the individual is under.”
Calls for greater transparency from super funds
Ms Jordon has called for better transparency and support from super funds, particularly during critical illness.
Lyndal Jordon and Glenn Allan have eroded their savings amid Lyndal’s battle with terminal cancer and her super fund. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
“They need to tighten their communication and advise people of what they can expect,” she said.
“To be ensuring that your members are receiving those annual statements and that the documented information around the insurance coverage is very clear.”
Cbus urged to review how it spends members’ money Photo shows Cbus super logo on a glass window Millions of Australians will be able to tap their super fund for more financial advice about their retirement and superannuation, under changes being announced by the federal government, but they will have to pay for the benefit.
Ms Jordon says she faced numerous obstacles, including inconsistent communication.
“It was constant emails [to the super fund and insurer],” she explains.
” I wouldn’t receive calls back, or I would receive a call from somebody who I didn’t know, and I would have to go through it with them again, and it was like Groundhog Day every time. ”
She says the fight has left her feeling defeated.
“It’s been really damaging — it makes you not trust the process, or the people talking to you about it,” she says.
“I think for whatever time I have left, I want to spend it enjoying life, rather than following up phone calls and following up emails.”
Editor’s note: This story was altered on March 27, 2025, several hours after publication, to remove references to Ms Jordon’s level of insurance cover changing as a result of a merger with another fund. Aware Super says Ms Jordon’s insurance cover remained at the same default level throughout her membership and was unaffected by the merger. It also adds further comments from Aware Super disputing Ms Jordon’s recollections of the timing payments were made to her.