When Wayne Swan attacked mining magnates for undermining Australia’s national interests in pursuit of their own ends it created a storm of controversy.

Yet the mining magnates haven’t been shy about opposing the mining tax and climate change policy.

And now Clive Palmer is running for office, Gina Rinehart has bought big into Fairfax and Twiggy Forrest is challenging the mining tax in the High Court.

CFMEU National President Tony Maher wants our mining magnates to concentrate less on their billions and more on using their wealth to improve Australia. Find out about the CFMEU’s ad campaign here.

He wonders whether Australia will ever have a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates fighting for the rights of many rather than the rights of a few.

Or will the billionaires soon be launching their own campaign to save themselves?

It’s increasingly clear that Greece’s woes are partly to blame on its public pension system — over generous, over subscribed and now underfunded.

Like the rest of the western world, Australia also has an ageing population and some sections of the population are reliant on the government pension.

James Coyle from AustralianSuper tells 3Q that our superannuation system keeps our economy strong and individuals protected. Super is not only a tax-effective way to save, it also reduces pressure on government funding because less people are solely reliant on the age pension.

Although our super savings took a beating in the GFC, superannuation savings of $1.3 trillion helped Australia through the GFC via indirect investment to help Australian companies raise equity and lessen dependence on the overseas debt market.