There was no cost/benefit analysis; it was opposed by the government’s financial advisor, the Treasury; it has ballooned over 25 years into a $2.3 trillion industry with serious systemic problems. But compulsory superannuation is a Labor sacred cow – and is being milked for billions of dollars. It was Paul Keating’s gift to the ACTU’s Bill Kelty and was more about union power and keeping Kelty on side with the Accord than its stated welfare and budgetary objectives.